Robert C. Holub will serve another year as Chancellor of the 性闻联播 Amherst and will then step down from the post, the 性闻联播 announced today, June 30.
"I look forward to leading this great institution on its current trajectory of success for another year," said Dr. Holub. "Working together, the campus community has made great strides during my first three years - especially when one considers the difficult economic times - but we have much more work to do next year and in the future if we are going to attain our loftiest goals. At the conclusion of what will be my fourth year as Chancellor, I am confident that I will leave UMass Amherst in a stronger position to build upon the many outstanding achievements of the campus during my tenure. I look forward to working with President Caret, the Board of Trustees, and the all members of the campus as we continue to elevate the stature of the Commonwealth's flagship institution, UMass Amherst."
Chancellor Holub has led UMass Amherst since August 1, 2008. Prior to being named Chancellor, he served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee's flagship campus in Knoxville and held a variety of academic positions at the University of California Berkeley, including full professor, department chair and dean.
During his tenure as Chancellor of the flagship campus of the 性闻联播 system, Chancellor Holub is credited with numerous accomplishments. Under his leadership the campus achieved record highs in applications for admission, SAT scores and GPAs of incoming students, number of baccalaureate degrees awarded, percentage of minority students on campus, retention rates from the first to the second year, Pell grant recipients, student financial aid, licensing income, research awards, and fundraising totals. The campus also launched the Community College Connection to encourage community college students to complete their bachelor's degrees in Amherst. Chancellor Holub also led the effort to elevate the football program into the Football Bowl Subdivision in the Mid-American Conference.
University leaders praised Chancellor Holub's unyielding dedication to excellence in public higher education.
"Bob Holub has worked hard to advance the Amherst campus during his years as Chancellor. His accomplishments are well known and deserve our respect and admiration. He is a distinguished scholar and is strong advocate for access and for excellence in higher education," UMass President Jack M. Wilson said.
"I thank Chancellor Holub for his service to the 性闻联播. He has presided over a period of growth and has been a strong voice for quality in all that we do," said James J. Karam, chairman of the UMass Board of Trustees.
In agreeing to serve another year as Chancellor, Chancellor Holub said he would leave the post sooner if the University's next Chancellor for the UMass Amherst campus was able to start before Chancellor Holub's term expires on July 31, 2012. The University expects to launch a search process in September.
A German scholar, Chancellor Holub's career has been devoted to public research universities. As provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee's flagship campus in Knoxville, Holub focused on increasing the student retention rates as a way to improve student learning and raise rankings among peer institutions.
Most of Chancellor Holub's professional life was spent at the University of California Berkeley, where he worked for 27 years and left a mark in many areas. He was a full professor and held several administrative offices. During his tenure as chair of the German Department, the National 性闻联播 Council ranked the department the best in the field. As dean of the Undergraduate Division of the College of Letters and Science, Holub was responsible for the education of approximately 18,000 undergraduates on the Berkeley campus. He introduced significant reforms in general education, undergraduate advising and educational policy.
A prolific writer, Chancellor Holub's academic interest is in 19th and 20th-century German intellectual, cultural and literary history. He has written 12 books and more than 100 articles and essays on issues ranging from early 19th century German realism to postwar examination of the Holocaust. The poet Heinrich Heine and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche are frequent subjects in Chancellor Holub's publications.
Chancellor Holub grew up in New Jersey and is the first in his family to attend college. He earned a bachelor's degree in natural science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he earned a master's degree in comparative literature in 1973, a master's in German in 1976, and a doctorate in German in 1979.
Contact: Robert P. Connolly, 617.548.0238