UConn Will Get Its First Woman President

To see video of a speech by Susan Herbst, click here.

Susan Herbst, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the University System of Georgia, is expected to be named this afternoon the University of Connecticut's next president - the first woman to hold the job since the university began more than a century ago.

Herbst is to be formally appointed by UConn's board of trustees at a meeting at the Storrs campus this afternoon. Although the position is not a gubernatorial appointment, Gov.-elect Dan Malloy has had a hand in the screening and selection process.

Malloy and outgoing Gov. M. Jodi Rell both support Herbst's appointment to the job, according to sources.

The decision to name Herbst as UConn's next president comes six months after former President Michael Hogan surprised university and state officials by announcing he was leaving after just three years.

Herbst is coming to UConn from a much larger institution. The University System of Georgia has 311,000 students--10 times UConn's enrollment--and a $6.3 billion budget compared with UConn's $1.03 billion budget.

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