The University of Connecticut is looking for a new president.
The Hartford Courant reported Thursday morning that President Thomas Katsouleas will resign, effective June 30. UConn shared his resignation letter, which is actually two months old.
“UConn has fared extraordinarily well in the face of unprecedented challenges under the leadership and decision making of our leadership team and the Board,” Katsouleas wrote to Dan Toscano, chairman of UConn’s board of trustees, in a letter dated March 13. “I look forward to contributing further to the continued success of the state’s flagship institution of higher education as a member of our distinguished faculty."
In the letter, Katsouleas referred to “reasons we have discussed at length over time” for his resignation, but he didn’t go into detail.
The resignation was tendered just two years after Katsouleas was unanimously appointed president.
Back then, he set a goal to double research dollars at UConn over seven to 10 years.
“Good public universities are pillars supporting their state -- serving its needs and supporting its economy,” Katsouleas said on Feb. 5, 2019. “Great flagship universities with their satellite campuses and partners, including state and community colleges, are the crown jewels of the state -- uplifting the mind and spirit not just of their own students, but of the surrounding communities and the entire state.”
In actuality, Katsouleas won’t make it two years as president; he officially began that job on Aug. 1, 2019.
Katsouleas won’t be leaving the school, though. In his resignation letter, he said he looked forward to continuing at UConn as a faculty member.
Per the terms of his employment as president, he’ll join the school’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as a tenured professor.
The school has yet to disclose that salary -- the contract says it’ll equal the highest base rate payable to a 9-month faculty member, excluding UConn Health.
Katsouleas’ base salary was $525,000 when he was hired in 2019.
This post was updated.
