New University of Missouri System president to visit Kansas City

The University of Missouri’s newly designated system president, Mun Choi, is expected in Kansas City next week.

Choi, a provost at the University of Connecticut, was named UM System president earlier this month. He will be on the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus Dec. 2 as part of his first tour of the four-campus system.

While at UMKC, Choi plans to meet with campus faculty, students, staff and Kansas City community leaders in preparation to officially take the helm as president on March 1.

Choi is the first UM System president of Asian-American heritage. He replaces Tim Wolfe, who resigned last November under a national spotlight following student protests, a student hunger strike and claims that he had failed to take action against multiple displays of racism at MU, the system’s flagship campus in Columbia.

Mike Middleton has been serving as interim system president since Wolfe left.

When the university began its presidential search in February, it went looking for a leader who was expected to play a major role in mending damage done to MU last year.

UM curators said they also wanted someone with leadership background in advancing research, in fundraising in the private sector and at the state level, and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

After a nine-month search, curators chose Choi from among three finalists.

When introduced to the UM System community, Choi said his first order of business would be listening to university leaders, faculty and students for diverse points of view and to members of the Missouri legislature for “common ground.”

The UMKC visit will be the last of Choi’s four-campus tour, beginning Tuesday at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. On Wednesday, he will stop in Rolla at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. On Thursday, Choi visits MU in Columbia, and then at 9 a.m. Friday UMKC will host a welcome reception for him in the Student Union, 5100 Cherry St.

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 2:26 PM with the headline "New University of Missouri System president to visit Kansas City."