Administrators at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are sad to see Rita Cheng go, but confident she will make an outstanding chancellor at SIUC.
Cheng, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was named SIUC’s next chancellor in a press conference Tuesday.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago said he had mixed emotions about Cheng accepting the chancellor position.
“Rita has made increasingly significant contributions to the success of UWM over more than two decades,” Santiago said. “We are losing an outstanding administrator and leader, and I am losing an insightful adviser and ally.”
Pending approval from the SIU Board of Trustees at the Dec. 10 meeting, Cheng will begin her duties as chancellor June 1.
Tom Luljak, vice chancellor for university relations and communications at UWM, said Cheng was an outstanding provost.
“I am confident that she will be a wonderful addition to your campus community,” Luljak said. “She’s also a very good leader. She has inspired those working alongside her to do their very best.”
Luljak said Cheng always did her job to her best ability, which caused everyone around her to work harder.
At Tuesday’s press conference, SIU President Glenn Poshard said Cheng shone above the other candidates to be named to the position.
“(The chancellor search committee) had about 39 candidates from all over the country, and eventually through that process they whittled that down to two exceptional candidates,” Poshard said. “Dr. Cheng was my choice.”
Poshard said Cheng has shown great leadership during tough economic times and that showed him that she is ready to be the next chancellor.
Luljak said Cheng would be a huge gain for SIUC.
“Losing her is something we will have to deal with, because she has performed so well in so many different ways,” Luljak said. “From my standpoint, SIU is very fortunate to have her.”
Luljake said it would be very difficult for Wisconsin-Milwaukee to find a replacement for Cheng.
Cheng beat out Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Couture was named New Mexico State University president Thursday.
Luljake said Cheng was outstanding in every aspect of her job and showed strong leadership.
“She has been absolutely essential to the tremendous growth in degree programs that UWM has offered or currently offers,” Luljak said. “She has really helped steer a number of new programs through the UWM system.
Stile Smith can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 259.
