A New Leader for the University

Photo: Martin Vloet

On August 1, Mary Sue Coleman, Ph.D., a biochemist and former president of the University of Iowa, became the University of Michigan’s 13th president and the first woman to hold the post.

Coleman also received tenured joint faculty appointments as a professor of biological chemistry in the U-M Medical School and a professor of chemistry in the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

“I am delighted that the University of Michigan has such a strong and dynamic academic medical center,” Coleman says. “It contributes enormously to Michigan’s stature as a world-class research university. Medical School research is generating promising collaborations within our academic community and with scientists across the country and around the world. Caring for patients and training tomorrow’s physicians are excellent examples of the way a great university fulfills its public service mission.”

Before joining the U-M, Coleman was president of the University of Iowa from 1995-2002. She also served as provost and vice president for academic affairs (1993-95) at the University of New Mexico, and as vice chancellor for graduate studies and research (1992-93) and associate provost and dean of research (1990-92) for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to her career in academic administration, Coleman spent 19 years on the biochemistry faculty and as a cancer center administrator at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Her research focused on the immune system’s response to cancer, especially in leukemia.

Coleman was elected to the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine in 1997, where she co-chairs the Institute’s Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance.

—SFP

To learn more about President Coleman, go to: www.umich.edu/pres