University of Illinois trustees unanimously appoint Charles Isbell as Urbana-Champaign chancellor

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees on Thursday unanimously approved the appointment of Charles Isbell as the 11th chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and as a vice president of the University of Illinois system.

President Killeen presented the board's recommendation after a nationwide confidential search and moved the item to a vote. Trustee Mazan, the student trustee at Urbana-Champaign, moved to approve the appointment; Trustee Blackwell seconded the motion. The board approved the appointment by voice vote with no recorded opposition.

The appointment follows a search described by President Killeen as thorough and competitive and conducted by Greenwood/Asher & Associates with a Search Advisory Committee chaired by Professor Jennifer T. Bernhard. The committee held about 20 town-hall events and gathered input from faculty, students, staff, campus deans and directors. "I present my recommendation to appoint Doctor Charles Isbell as the eleventh chancellor of the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and vice president of the University of Illinois system," President Killeen said during the meeting.

Board members who spoke before the vote praised Isbell's academic record and leadership experience. Trustee Craig Schilling said he was "quite excited" by Isbell's credentials and vision for the campus. Trustee McKinney said she was impressed by Isbell's "calm, measured approach" described during the interview, and Trustee Milhouse called the choice "one great choice" after reflecting on the university's history and recent stewardship under Chancellor Robert J. Jones.

Mazan, the student trustee, said she believed Isbell "will serve our campus community with the thoughtfulness, integrity, vision, and unbridled hope that this role calls for" when she moved the motion to approve. Blackwell, who seconded the motion, said as an alumna she was honored to welcome Isbell and to second the appointment.

President Killeen and other presenters summarized Isbell's recent roles and accomplishments. Since 2023, Isbell has served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he led academic initiatives including the Wisconsin Research Innovation and Scholarly Excellence Initiative and worked on a new budgeting approach and faculty hiring. Earlier, Isbell held leadership and faculty roles at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he helped launch an online master of science in computer science. Isbell is a computer scientist whose research focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence; he is a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Association for Computing Machinery and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds a bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech and a master's and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In brief remarks after the vote, Isbell thanked the board, President Killeen, the search committee and the Illinois community: "I am honored. I am humbled, and I am deeply inspired to stand before you today as the next chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and vice president for the system," he said. He acknowledged the leadership of Chancellor Robert J. Jones and said he looked forward to building on that legacy.

The board conducted the matter as the single agenda item at the special meeting. There were no public-comment requests recorded for the session. The meeting concluded with the board announcing upcoming meeting locations and adjourning.