University of Massachusetts President William Bulger announced the appointment of Dr. Jo Ann Gora as Chancellor of the UMass-Boston campus yesterday, calling her the right person at the right time for the campus.
“Jo Ann Gora is a creative, imaginative, dynamic leader, and we are very pleased to welcome her.” Bulger said. “[The students] really have such enormous trust in us. We have the responsibility for giving them educational opportunity … and she is a good leader.”
Gora currently serves as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Old Dominion University, a publicly funded institution located in Norfolk, Va. She has also written two books and numerous articles concerning criminology, sociology and behavior. She will assume the UMass-Boston chancellor post on Aug. 1.
David Mackenzie, UMass-Boston’s acting chancellor, offered advice for Gora.
“What we have here at UMass-Boston is a rain forest. Too often we are caught up with one tree’s problems,” he said. “Don’t worry. Whenever a tree falls in the forest, someone will hear it.”
Gora accepted the appointment with excitement, saying she hopes to bring a new vision and a sense of optimism to UMass-Boston. She said the university of the 21st century would become the urban university.
“There is much to be done. I realize the dream of being the model urban university,” Gora said. “We are of the community and for the community.”
Gora said she will spend her first days at the university walking around the campus, speaking to faculty and students and learning their dreams and disappointments. She also wants to involve the surrounding community with the school from the start, beginning new partnerships, addressing issues and agreeing to compromise.
“I have a lot to learn. One of the first things I will do will be going out and meeting community groups, talking about what the issues are,” Gora said. “The public school system is critically important. It is the foundation we give our youth. It is a matter of seeing what is working and possibilities for better partnerships.”
Gora will take over a campus of 13,700 students, more than 800 instructors and a budget of more than $142 million. She replaces former Chancellor Sherry Penney, who returned to the UMass-Boston faculty at the beginning of this year after receiving an evaluation critical of her management style.
Grace Key, chairman of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees, praised the selection of Gora from over 53 potential candidates.
“I am confident that she will greatly inspire the students, faculty and staff of UMass-Boston,” Key said.
The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on Gora’s appointment when it meets May 2.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
