Acting provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs

Dear students, faculty and staff, 

I am pleased to announce that Karen Colley, PhD, dean of the Graduate College, will serve as the acting provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, effective June 1, subject to approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. 

Profoundly dedicated to UIC, Dean Colley has, on numerous occasions, graciously accepted additional leadership roles when the need has arisen, including serving as the interim dean of libraries in 2020 and, most recently, as the interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs last year. Her recent successful service to the university as well as her vast wealth of experience at UIC make her an ideal leader to carry the torch during this time of transition. 

Dean Colley is both a professor in the UIC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and the dean of the Graduate College. Since her appointment as dean in 2012, she has successfully overseen all graduate programs at UIC. In addition, she also serves as the institutional leader representing UIC at the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning, an academic network of top research universities devoted to developing and expanding proven STEM teaching practices to educate diverse populations of students. Dean Colley received her PhD from Washington University in St. Louis and completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, prior to joining UIC in 1991. 

I am thrilled to count on Dean Colley’s service as interim provost once again. Her leadership during this period will ensure a smooth transition for UIC while I step into the role of interim chancellor until the search for a permanent chancellor has concluded and the new chancellor has arrived. 

Please join me in thanking Dean Colley for her energy, leadership and service over the coming months and welcoming her, once more, to the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. I look forward to all that we will accomplish together. 

Sincerely, 

Javier Reyes
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs