Office of the Chancellor
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS DIRECT REPORTS TO THE CHANCELLOR
David is the interim President of the University of Illinois Alumni Association, leveraging his extensive experience in alumni and student engagement. Prior to this role, he served the University since 2018 as Vice President of Alumni & Student Engagement. Before joining the University of Illinois, he held several positions at Ohio University, including the interim Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations and Executive Director of the OHIO Alumni Association. Additionally, Bambrey's experience includes several roles at the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Washington & Jefferson College.
Barry is the senior advancement officer for the campus with a split reporting role to the Chancellor and to the President of the University of Illinois Foundation. Before joining Illinois, he was a member of the senior leadership team at the University of Arizona Foundation, where he served as senior vice president of development for university campaigns, regional development and gift planning. Previously, he was the Arizona foundation’s vice president of development, university campaigns and communications; the senior director of development for the college of engineering; and the foundation’s director of regional development.
William provides strategic budget planning and allocation advice to the Chancellor and Provost, guidance to the university in areas related to budget, finance, planning and resource allocation, leadership and management of the campus budget office. He also serves as Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, providing leadership in the areas of academic and faculty affairs. He has been a member of the faculty since 1997 and is a professor of political science, with an expertise in political economy. William most recently served as the Interim Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Provost. He holds a B.A. in government from Cornell University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Duke University.
Alice is responsible for the management and oversight of the University of Illinois Police Department and Division of Public Safety. She was previously the chief of police at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she created a dedicated Campus Outreach and Support Team to engage with the campus and the greater community to build trust through establishing personal relationships, improving communications, operating transparently and demonstrating a commitment to serving all people.
John oversees campus academic programs, policies, and priorities, which are designed to ensure the quality of the educational experience for students and to sustain an environment that encourages and supports academic excellence. He was previously dean of the College of Liberal Arts and a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota since 2014. Having served nearly his entire academic career in Big Ten, public land-grant research universities, he brings a profound understanding of our foundational obligations to translate knowledge, education and exploration into better lives for those we serve. John earned a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. summa cum laude in government and history from Clark University.
Mike is responsible for campus administration and operations. In this capacity, he is the Chancellor’s liaison to the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, and has responsibility for the Division of Public Safety, Facilities and Services, Parking Department, Purchasing Department, Allerton, Illini Center in Chicago, Police Training Institute, Illinois Fire Safety Institute and Willard Airport. Prior to Illinois Mike served in leadership roles at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Florida. Mike has a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University, a master’s from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Sean leads the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion unit, which includes the Office for Access and Equity, the Title IX and Disability office, Academic Inclusive Excellence and the Office for Business Community Economic Development. He serves on the Chancellor’s leadership team, providing vision and advice on diversity and social justice issues. Prior to Illinois, he was Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities where his scholarship focused on the modeling and simulation of turbulent, reacting, multiphase flows. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1998 from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Robin acts as spokesperson for the Urbana campus as well as acting as point for issues management. She is the director of Public Affairs, which is responsible for campus media relations as well as campus level communications services that include web, video and social media channels. She also oversees the Office of Special Events and the Office of Strategic Marketing and Branding. Robin has been with the university since 1989. She holds three Illinois degrees: a bachelor’s and master’s in Journalism, and an MBA.
Ehab oversees all physical plant, operational, and essential services in support of the research, teaching, and public engagement activities of the university. He has led the Capital Programs division for Facilities & Services since January 2020, where he oversees active capital improvement projects totaling about $600M. Previously, Ehab served as the director of Facilities Development and Engineering Services at York University, the third-largest university in Canada, where he guided an initiative to deliver the university’s ambitious capital and renewal program.
In collaboration with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Kim assists the Chancellor with the strategic development of high-priority, high-impact, multi-stakeholder initiatives for the University. She provides leadership in pursuing resources and developing new and sustained partnerships with academic institutions, foundations, federal and state agencies, alumni, and the private sector to position the University to lead scientific discoveries, innovations that will inspire and empower tomorrow’s sustainable food, agriculture, nutrition and rural health systems.
As the university’s senior international officer, Reitumetse (Reitu) provides visionary leadership, expert strategic planning and administrative oversight to advance the international portfolio, global leadership and reputation of the campus, within the core missions of teaching, research and public engagement. She is a professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership. She received her B.A. in economics from Ohio Wesleyan University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She pursued and graduated with a master’s in labor and industrial relations and Ph.D. in educational policy studies, both from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Susan provides leadership for the productive, safe and ethical conduct of research at Illinois. She oversees the campus-wide interdisciplinary research institutes, promotes new research initiatives and leads the administrative, regulatory, compliance and business functions that underpin the research enterprise. She is also the Stephen G. Sligar Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and is a scholar in the areas of mechanisms, evolution and biomedical applications of protein synthesis and RNA-protein interactions. She received her bachelor's degree from Washington State University in 1985 and her Ph.D. from Illinois in 1990.
Shari began her role as Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources on March 1, 2022. She provides strategic advice to University leaders on all human resources matters. She previously served as the Chief Human Resources Officer and Secretary to the Board of Trustees for Wright State University; Senior Associate Vice President for HR at Xavier University; and in various HR roles including Director of Employee & Labor Relations, and Director of Organization & HR Consulting with The Ohio State University. Shari holds a B.A. in Political Science from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Franklin University.
Chris serves as chief of staff, advising and assisting the chancellor on a wide range of campus initiatives with a focus on PreK-12 outcomes and partnerships. He oversees Swanlund Human Resources and the Academic Senate office, and is Liaison to the Board of Trustees’ Office. He has been a member of the faculty since 2003 and is a Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership. He earned his Ph.D. in the College of Education at Illinois in 2001. He is a widely respected educational historian and scholar and served as an Associate Dean in the College of Education from 2011-2021.
Wanda provides strategic leadership for the university and broader community to advance the university's public engagement mission. She oversees Public Engagement and Community and Government Relations. She joined the university in 2018 as the Executive Associate Chancellor for Administration and University Relations after serving for more than two decades as a senior administrator at the National Science Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a doctoral degree from Stanford University.
Josh was named director of athletics in February, 2016. He previously served as athletic director at Washington University and at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. He is a licensed attorney and previously practiced in Washington, D.C., serving clients that included Microsoft and the NFL. He also served as a judicial law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was a four year starting football player at Illinois and spent several seasons playing in the National Football League. He holds his bachelor’s and law degrees from Illinois.
Danita serves as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at Illinois. Student Affairs consists of many of the departments that create learning experiences for students outside the classroom such as University Housing, the Dean of Students Office, the Illini Union, the Counseling Center, Campus Recreation, Illinois Leadership and the cultural houses. She previously served as Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the University of Minnesota. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from Kent State University, a master's degree in Community Counseling from Loyola University Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Ohio University.
Kelvin, who formerly led the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and who joined the faculty of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in 2023, has a shared appointment as a Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Science and Policy. In this capacity, he works closely with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation to advise on federal initiatives, policies and strategic opportunities in areas such as sustaining climate and ensuring resiliency in our ecosystems.
Cynthia, a professor in the Department of Dance and an associate vice chancellor for Research and Innovation, is a Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Arts Integration. In this role, she leads the office’s efforts to further embed the arts into all aspects and missions of the university – a central component of the Boldly Illinois 2030 Strategic Plan. She is an award-winning former dancer with numerous companies, including the David Gordon Pick Up Co., the Bebe Miller Company, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, and Tere O’Connor Dance.
Jacki is the Senior Advisor to the Chancellor on Native Affairs issues. She has served on the American Indian Council for the Office of the State Archeologist where she advised on issues related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and has extensive experience with museums, including 11 years in various roles at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.