Mizzou, without permanent leader since 2015, gets new interim chancellor

Garnett Stokes, the University of Missouri’s executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost on the Columbia campus, on Tuesday was named interim chancellor, effective May 3.

UM System President Mun Choi announced Stokes’ appointment Tuesday morning. Stokes steps in for interim chancellor Hank Foley, who has taken a job as president of the New York Institute of Technology.

The university has been without a permanent chancellor since R. Bowen Loftin resigned in November 2015 after a series of racially charged student protests that also led to the resignation of Tim Wolfe, then the UM System president.

“I am pleased that Dr. Garnett Stokes has agreed to serve as interim chancellor of the largest campus in the UM System at this critical time,” Choi said in a statement. “Dr. Stokes has been a pivotal member of the leadership team at MU. I am looking forward to working closely with her to accomplish the important goals of achieving excellence in research, teaching, economic development and outreach.”

Stokes has served in her current position at MU since February 2015. She has been responsible for hiring eight of the university’s 13 deans.

In addition, under her direction, the university established the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX and “centralized reports and investigations of discrimination and provided more process and rigor around how cases of discrimination and sexual misconduct are addressed at MU,” the university statement said.

Before coming to Columbia, Stokes served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and interim president of Florida State University. She previously was a faculty member at the University of Georgia, where she also served as chair of the Department of Psychology and dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Stokes received her master’s and doctorate degrees in institutional and organizational psychology from the University of Georgia, and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Carson-Newman University.