The Arizona Board of Regents announced early Thursday morning that Suresh V. Garimella was a candidate to become the next president of the University of Arizona.
Garimella, the president of the University of Vermont, would become the 23rd president of the UA, replacing current President Dr. Robert C. Robbins, who announced in the spring that he would not be renewing his contract with the university, which is set to end in 2026.
Garimella’s announcement comes at the end of a five-month search initiated by the Presidential Search Committee, a group of 18 people, including three members of ABOR, community leaders, members of UA faculty and one UA student.
Garimella has a strong research background, serving as executive vice president of research and partnerships at Purdue University, where he also worked as a professor.
In the month following Robbins’ announcement, the board of regents conducted a “listening tour” in the UA community and offered multiple spaces for community members to provide feedback on what they were looking for in a future president.
According to the board, over “420 individuals participated in the listening tour and town halls, while the board has so far received 72 email comments and 3,798 survey responses. Of the students, employees and alumni who responded to ABOR’s campus wide survey, 36.9 percent were alumni, 26.8 percent staff, 18.2 percent students, 13.6 percent faculty and 4.5 percent were undesignated.”
Using this feedback, the committee established a “position profile,” which included a list of critical areas and institutional priorities and a list of desired leadership qualities.
According to Jenny Lee, vice president of Arizona International, dean of International Education and member of the Academic Deans’ Council, the list describing the ideal candidate for the university was all-encompassing, ranging from an appreciation for the diversity of the UA to an ability to work with university stakeholders to a commitment to research excellence.
The committee believed Garimella met these standards and expectations. The committee was “quite impressed and pleased” with Garimellla’s resume and ability to meet the needs of different groups across the community, Lee said.
“What really stood out to us from the beginning is that he is an established scholar in the field. He has a proven track record of academic excellence and research. He is one that I think many, if not all of our faculty can identify with as an esteemed scholar that reflects the academic reputation and excellence of this university,” Lee said. “So he embodies so much of that prestige and excellence that we all faculty members aspire towards.”
Garimella’s previous experience at Purdue and the University of Vermont also make him uniquely qualified to handle some of the UA’s most pressing concerns, according to Lee.
“[Garimella] has really demonstrated his ability to navigate some challenges, everything from covid budgetary challenges, political challenges, but really in a way that has been putting students at the center, the needs of the community, diverse perspectives and individuals, as well as the ability to grow funds and research capacity. And this is very much where we also wish to go as a university,” Lee said. “I think his experience positions him well to lead us from where we are now to what we can be even more so in the future.”
When looking at the university’s future, the conversation about finances cannot be ignored. After UA senior leadership announced a $177 million budget shortfall last fall, working to reduce this deficit has been a focal point across the university community, leading to changes like eliminating vacant positions, suspending competitive grant programs and budget operations restructuring.
A strong “financial acumen, including understanding the consequences of financial and budgetary decisions, and a record of success in creating financially sustainable budget models for large, complex organizations” was one of the community-promoted leadership qualities listed in the position profile. The Presidential Search Committee is encouraged by Garimella’s financial background and perspective.
“[Garimella] is very optimistic about our financial situation. We’ve made tremendous strides thanks to our CFO in reducing that deficit,” Lee said. “Obviously there are still ongoing challenges, but […] [Garimella] has shown to understand budgets and budget models, as well as how we can do this in ways that don’t place additional unnecessary burden on students, ways that we can be efficient while still prioritizing student success and graduation rates.”
The board will interview Garimella Friday from 7-9 a.m. The interview will take place in executive session, but ABOR may reconvene in public session following the conversation. At the conclusion of the session tomorrow, the board may make a decision about next steps in the process of establishing a new president at the UA.
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