The University of Michigan has selected C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University, as its next president, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the decision told the Detroit Free Press.
Those people requested anonymity because they weren't allowed to publicly discuss details. An official announcement is expected on Aug. 18.
Raver will succeed Domenico Grasso, who was named U-M's president in May after Kent Syverud, the university's original pick for the job, withdrew after being diagnosed with a form of brain cancer. The U-M Board of Regents started a national search for its next president in May.
These sources also said that former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was among the candidates who were
considered.
Raver, who has served as Vanderbilt's provost since 2021, will arrive at U-M at a consequential moment for the university. Over the past five years, U-M's athletic programs have faced cheating probes, federal charges stemming from an alleged hacking scheme, an assault investigation, outside law-firm investigations and lawsuits.
Tensions on campus remain high after multiple protests in recent years over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In five years as Vanderbilt’s provost, Raver has recruited five new deans, spearheaded a multi-million-dollar initiative to expand research and innovation, expanded Vanderbilt’s footprint to New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida, approved a new interdisciplinary science building and surpassed $1 billion in annual research expenditures, according to her biography on Vanderbilt’s website.
Raver will need to use that recruitment experience as U-M's president, as she's inheriting a university facing significant leadership turnover. She'll select a new athletic director when Warde Manuel steps down at the end of the year, as well as a new chief executive of Michigan Medicine after that leader departs in December for Vanderbilt Health, among other positions.
Before joining Vanderbilt, Raver was a deputy provost at New York University and held faculty roles at the University of Chicago and Cornell University, the biography said. She earned her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Yale University.
Duggan, meanwhile, had been the subject of widespread speculation about his next career move after ending his independent campaign for Michigan governor in May. He announced on Aug. 14 that he was joining Honigman, a prominent business law firm headquartered in Detroit.
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: University of Michigan has picked its next president, sources say
