Cornell University provost Carolyn Martin will likely be the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, UW System officials announced Wednesday.

“I am thrilled to be recommended as the next chancellor of UW-Madison, one of the world’s truly great public universities and my graduate alma mater,” Martin said in a statement. “I am grateful to the regents, President Reilly and the search committee for this opportunity, and humbled that they would entrust me with this tremendous responsibility. It is a real honor to be selected from such a strong pool of candidates, and a privilege to join Wisconsin’s corps of respected campus chancellors.”

Martin obtained her Ph.D. in German literature from UW in 1985 and has served as provost at Cornell since 2000.

“I look forward to working with the faculty, staff and students at UW-Madison to uphold the traditions and values of this great university,” Martin said. “Together with my graduate education at the UW, my 24 years at Cornell have prepared me well for this new path, and I am deeply grateful to all my Cornell colleagues who have supported me along the way.”

The Board of Regents will have to formally approve Martin’s hiring at its June meeting.