Emory University President Gregory Fenves is stepping down from the role, the school announced on Tuesday.
But he is not leaving the private Atlanta university. After roughly five years as Emory president, Fenves will now become the school’s chancellor where he will focus on fundraising and building relationships with federal officials.
Leah Ward Sears, an alumna who currently sits on the Emory Board of Trustees and was formerly chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, will serve as interim president when Fenves’s term ends on Sept. 1. While the school plans to conduct a national search for a new president, it has not said when that search will begin.
The school’s announcement, which refers to the news as “leadership transitions,” notes that the shakeup comes during a “challenging moment for higher education.”
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump’s administration has shaken universities nationwide. By cutting research grants and threatening other federal funding, colleges are facing what Fenves previously referred to as “tremendous uncertainty.” In an early March statement, Fenves announced that the school would institute a hiring freeze as the school prepared “for what may be a significant disruption to our finances.”
Some three months later, much of that financial uncertainty remains. It appears that in his new role as chancellor, Fenves will work with the federal government to navigate that uncertainty and keep federal money flowing to the school.
“Together, Fenves and the board agreed that the university would be best served if he devoted significantly more time and energy to further strengthening relationships with key constituents, leading the university’s essential engagement at the national level, and continuing to build on Emory’s extraordinary fundraising momentum,” the university said in its statement, noting that Fenves oversaw the most successful fundraising campaign in school history.
As chancellor, the school said, Fenves “will be able to focus his time and energy at the national level to help steer Emory through a period of unprecedented change.”
Emory’s chancellor role has been vacant for more than a decade. It was last held by Michael M.E. Johns from 2007 to 2012.
Assuming the presidency in August 2020, Fenves led the school through the COVID-19 pandemic and helped the school eliminate need-based loans by replacing them with grants and scholarships. The school saw a record number of applicants for undergraduate admissions and surpassed $1 billion in annual research expenditures.
Some professors expressed frustration with his tenure, saying faculty’s traditional role in shared governance of the university was chipped away by administrators. His decision to request that police break up a pro-Palestine protest last academic year resulted in multiple votes of no-confidence, with some students and faculty calling on him to resign.
In its announcement, the school said Fenves’s leadership, “reflects a steadfast dedication to fostering an inclusive, innovative, and forward-thinking academic community.” Bob Goddard, who chairs the board of trustees, said that Fenves’s new role, “will enable him to build on the essential growth he helped facilitate while focusing on Emory’s future.”
Fenves said it was a great honor to serve as president. “I’m proud of what we have accomplished together, and I am excited to focus more fully on critical objectives that will accelerate our progress,” he said.
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