Ilesanmi Adesida, provost of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is leaving his post and returning to a faculty position, effective Aug. 31.
This announcement comes weeks after the release of hundreds of emails exchanged among top university officials, some using their personal accounts to dodge disclosure, as they scrambled to deal with a series of controversies.
Adesida is following the footsteps of Phyllis Wise, the former chancellor of the university, who was asked to resign her position after the emails came out.
Here's the full text of the email announcing Adesida's resignation:
Dear Colleagues: I write to let you know that this morning Provost Ilesanmi Adesida has informed me that he will be stepping down from this role and returning to his faculty position in the College of Engineering on August 31. I want to thank Provost Adesida for his tremendous dedication to this campus and for his visionary leadership over many years. I worked with him in the Office of the Provost for two years and for this past year as a dean. I have seen firsthand how much this university means to him and how much pride he took in seeing the successes of our faculty, students and alumni. For almost three decades, Ade has been an integral part of this university. As a highly accomplished faculty member in engineering, the director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, as a dean and as provost, he has been a tireless advocate for Illinois. He has been a voice for us all across the nation and around the world. And closer to home, his leadership can be seen in everything from our ambitious plans to hire 500 new faculty members to this summer’s formal approval of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine to the plans for our new student design center. Ade ranks among the most respected members of his profession in the world. He holds memberships in the most prestigious societies including the National Academy of Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a prolific scholar, a valued collaborator and an honored mentor and advisor. Ade has left a permanent and positive mark on this university. He has my respect and my gratitude. Replacing him will be no easy task. I will be consulting with the Council of Deans, members of the Senate Executive Committee and leaders across campus in the next few days for advice and guidance in selecting a candidate to serve in an interim capacity. This is a critical position for the campus that we must fill quickly, but a decision that I know must be made collaboratively. Once again, I ask you to join me in thanking Provost Adesida for his service and wish him the best as he returns to his faculty position. Sincerely, Barbara J. Wilson |
