TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN — There’s been a good bit of suspense over who the Arizona Board of Regents would choose to be the new University President. Now they've made their decision . He’s Doctor Suresh Garimella, currently at the University of Vermont and now he’s had a chance to introduce himself to the University Community.
Doctor Garimella has spent about five years leading the University of Vermont. Before that he led research efforts at Purdue University.
He will be replacing Doctor Robert Robbins. He resigned after U of A fell into a deep financial hole on his watch. Robbins has stayed on the job while the Regents searched for his replacement.
We asked Garimella how he’d handle the money crunch. He says he can build on the recovery the Regents managed already.
“I feel that my background gives me enough confidence that we would be able to get past this moment rather quickly, and I hope that a press conference soon, we'll be talking about big, beautiful future things.”
Looking forward to her hopes for a new University President, U of A Senior Kimberly Ngomo says the budget cuts she felt under President Robbins show how students feel the impact of what a school President does.
“Every decision he makes trickles down to us and the workers, every single person on campus, it affects. So that's why it is really important to have a president who can understand the impact of all of the decisions including the financial ones.”
Rio Nuevo Chair Fletcher McCusker brought a business perspective to the committee that selected Garimella. He understands how the University and the University President affect the whole community, not just the campus.
“We've had a brain drain. Our graduates go someplace else. So all this energy, the work that we're doing downtown, try to keep younger entrepreneurs, smarter kids here, or coming here. We have to increase our undergraduate enrollment, and we have to continue to increase research. He hopes he can double our research budget so that all is huge for our economy.”
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
