Nancy L. Zimpher

Nancy L. Zimpher (born October 29, 1946) is an American educator, state university leader, and Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY).^[1] Prior to her service at SUNY, Zimpher was a dean and professor of education at Ohio State University (where she had earned her bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees); then Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee between 1998 and 2003; and President of the University of Cincinnati from 2003 through May of 2009. Zimpher is the first woman to serve as Chancellor of SUNY, was UWM's first woman chancellor, and was UC's first female president. Zimpher is a native of the village of Gallipolis in southern Ohio.^[2]

Administrative career

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

At UWM (where she was the first female Chancellor of that university), Zimpher created the now-defunct "Milwaukee Idea", a deliberately derivative variation on the historical Wisconsin Idea that "the University's boundaries are the State's boundaries", with a strategic plan that tied UWM, with its faculty knowledge base and research facilities, to the economic health and strength of the Greater Milwaukee area,^[3] and raised the profile of UWM in the region vis-a-vis crosstown rival Marquette University.^[4]

University of Cincinnati

At UC, she worked to eliminate the previous divisions among the colleges (such as by creating a single university commencement) and continuously championed UC|21, an academic plan which redefined UC as a "new urban research university" for the 21st century. It has also positioned Cincinnati as a candidate for AAU status. Her work was complicated by controversy over her ouster of longtime basketball coach Bob Huggins. Shortly after her arrival at UC, Huggins had been arrested for driving under the influence. This arrest, combined with the poor performance of Huggins' players in the classroom, were among many factors that led Zimpher to force Huggins to resign in 2005.^[5][6][7]

State University of New York

Soon after taking over at SUNY, Zimpher promised to visit all 64 campuses in the sprawling system—the largest university system in the nation under a single governing board.^[8]

Eight months after being sworn in, Zimpher had to deal with another athletic controversy, this time at Binghamton University. After a rash of incidents involving the school's basketball team, Zimpher ordered an audit of Binghamton's athletic department—to be overseen by the SUNY board of trustees, not Binghamton.^[9] The resulting report tallied what the New York Times described as "a litany of transgressions, including lowered admission standards and changed grades." In its wake, Binghamton president Lois B. DeFleur retired in July, athletic director Joel Thirer resigned and basketball coach Kevin Broadus, was placed on paid administrative leave and ultimately stripped of coaching duties.^[10]

Zimpher eventually assigned SUNY’s interim provost, David K. Lavallee, to lead an overall effort for the SUNY system to ensure that academics remain the highest priority; and Charles R. Westgate, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Binghamton, as a special adviser for academics and athletics for the SUNY system: moves some critics of the over-emphasis on athletics decried as insufficient.^[11]

Zimpher advocated the use of systemness to begin overhauling SUNY in her January 9, 2012 State of the University address.^[12]

Family

Zimpher's spouse is Kenneth R. Howey, Senior Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public policy research institute at the University at Albany.

Key works

• Percy, Stephen L., Nancy L. Zimpher, and Mary Jane Brukardt, eds. 2006. Creating a New Kind of University: Institutionalizing Community-University Engagement. Bolton, MA: Anker Publications. ISBN 9781882982882
• Zimpher, Nancy L., and Kenneth R. Howey, eds. 2004. University Leadership in Urban School Renewal. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 9780275980955
• Zimpher, Nancy L., Stephen L. Percy, and Mary Jane Brukardt. 2002. A Time for Boldness: A Story of Institutional Change. Bolton, MA: Anker Publications. ISBN 9781882982547

References

External links

• Official biography
• UC|21 official site
• Nancy L. Zimpher collected news and commentary at The New York Times