University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman to retire in '14

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman announced Thursday she will retire in July 2014, ending more than a decade-long tenure marked by an ambitious program of construction and controversy over the school's diversity efforts.

During a meeting of the school's Board of Regents, Coleman, 69, said she would leave when her current contract expires. Her base salary is $603,357.

"Leading the University of Michigan is the most challenging and rewarding work of my career," she said in a statement. "It is a tremendous privilege and one that continually energizes me. I have often said I have the best job in higher education, and I look forward to continuing to work with faculty, students, staff and alumni in the upcoming year.

"The University of Michigan deserves the best in a leader, and I want to give the Board of Regents ample time to select the next president."

Board vice chairwoman Andrea Fischer Newman said she anticipates a formal search will begin this summer.

"Hiring a president is the most critical job of the board, and we will seek an exceptional candidate to lead the university into its third century," Newman said.

U-M will mark its bicentennial in 2017.

At the regents meeting, the university also announced the largest gift in its history, $110 million in securities from investor Charles T. Munger.

The gift from Munger, vice chairman at Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, will fund a graduate residence hall.

Coleman, U-M's first woman president, has been in office since 2002 and is the school's fourth-longest-serving president. James B. Angell served 38 years, followed by Alexander G. Ruthven at 22 and Harlan H. Hatcher at 16.

"Mary Sue Coleman has been an extraordinary leader of an extraordinary university. The board is profoundly grateful for her service and we anticipate working closely with her on an orderly leadership transition," Newman said.

Coleman pushed for diversity on campus and opposed a state law, passed by voters in 2006, that prohibited considering race in college admissions and public hiring. The U.S. Supreme Court announced last month it would take on a court case involving the law, which was struck down by a federal appeals court in November.

She presided over a busy period of construction at U-M. Buildings erected during her tenure include the North Quad building, Mott Children's Hospital, Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital and Ross Business School complex.

The school also bought 173 acres and 30 buildings in 2009 for a research complex. A new nursing school building also is in the works.

Coleman also led the $3 billion Michigan Difference fundraising campaign.

A year after Coleman was hired, the Wolverine basketball program was put on probation for violations involving booster Ed Martin and $600,000 in payments to four former players, Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock. Banners won during their time on the team were taken down from Crisler Arena and put in storage.

Coleman said last year she opposed putting the banners back up.

She said she and her husband, Ken, plan to remain in Ann Arbor, where they have bought a home, and will divide their time between Michigan and Colorado, where their son and his family live in Denver.

"We have always lived in college towns and there's really no place like Ann Arbor. We did not think twice about where we wanted to call home after the presidency," she said.

A biochemist, Coleman came to U-M from the University of Iowa, where she was president for seven years. She also held leadership positions at the University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina and University of Kentucky, where for 20 years she directed a cancer research center.

Associated Press contributed.

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130418/SCHOOLS/304180472/1361/rss41

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