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Dear Colleagues,

As was announced last week, Interim President of the University of Michigan Domenico Grasso — our former chancellor — has appointed me to succeed him as interim chancellor and chief executive officer of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. I could not be more honored, as well as humbled, to step into this role.

������-Dearborn is truly my professional home, where I have served in various capacities for more than 25 years. Our university’s “Mission First – People Always” philosophy has remained top of mind for me in each of my roles, and this next one will be no different. Supporting our tremendous students, faculty and staff to do their absolute best in their academic, research, extracurricular and community endeavors is not only my top priority, but my passion.

I thank President Grasso for his visionary leadership during his seven years at ������-Dearborn. He has left much for us to build on as we enter this new chapter in our university’s history. In collaboration with all of you, I plan to continue to advance the strategic initiatives in which we are deeply invested, including integrating practice-based learning and holistic excellence efforts across campus.

I think it is important to share that I fully intend to keep the “interim” in my title. Information on the search for our next permanent chancellor will be shared in the future. 

I am also pleased to announce that Ghassan Kridli, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, has agreed to serve as our interim provost and chief academic officer. My sincere thanks to Provost Kridli for stepping into this role. We will share details on interim CECS leadership in the coming days.

Thank you to all of you who have reached out with words of encouragement amidst these significant — and exciting — changes here at ������-Dearborn and across the University of Michigan. This truly is a time of tremendous opportunity for our campus and I look forward to our continued work together.

Go Blue – Go Dearborn!

Gabriella Scarlatta
Interim Chancellor