Regent committee recommends UWM chancellor

University of Wisconsin System President Katharine C. Lyall and the Board of Regents’ Special Committee announced Carlos E. Santiago as their nomination for the next chancellor of UW-Milwaukee Monday.

Santiago is presently the provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Albany, State University of New York.

Santiago won the committee’s recommendation over three other finalists: Charles DeLisi, professor and senior associate provost at Boston University, Roderick McDavis, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University and Samuel Kirkpatrick, president of Eastern Michigan University. Kirkpatrick withdrew his application after interviews last Friday.

Lyall said that Santiago is the “perfect choice” to lead UW-Milwaukee. “[Santiago] has proven experience in leading a large research university in an urban setting within a major public university system,” she said in a written statement.

Santiago, a native of Puerto Rico, earned his Ph.D. and master’s degree in economics from Cornell University, and earned an additional master’s degree in economics from the University of Puerto Rico after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Miami.

Santiago is presently the chair of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Albany, associate director of the Center for Latino, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, chair of the university’s Faculty Senate and special assistant to the office of the president. Lyall said Santiago’s background in Latin American and Caribbean studies will be a strong asset to UWM as the campus grows in prominence.

Lyall also said Santiago is the first Puerto Rican to head an American research university.

Santiago accepted the UW System’s nomination and said in the release that he is looking forward to working with the UWM campus. Santiago also noted that he was aware of the funding challenges public higher-education institutions face and said SUNY institutions have addressed similar problems.

“I look forward to helping make a strong case for funding public higher education and student financial aid in Wisconsin,” he said in the release.

Erik Christianson, director of communications for the UW System, said the full Board of Regents will consider the recommendation at its meeting this Friday.

Although the Board of Regents still must decide on Santiago before he is named chancellor of UWM, Christianson said no other candidates have been recommended to the board.

“Certainly, it is our expectation that the board will take very seriously the recommendation made by its own specially appointed committee and President Lyall,” he said.

Christianson said determining the final salary and benefits package awarded to the candidate who becomes UWM’s next chancellor is difficult at this stage in the selection process.

“From our perspective, the pool of finalists competing shows the quality of candidates that were attracted to that position, and we need to pay a competitive salary,” he said. “[The quality of the applicant pool] is a good reminder to citizens and leaders of Wisconsin that we [the UW System] compete in a national marketplace to hire new leaders.”

In 2003, former UWM Chancellor Nancy Zimpher earned $219,550 and UW Chancellor John Wiley earned $303,350.