Boston University announced Wednesday that Dr. Melissa L. Gilliam has been named the school's 11th president.
Gilliam, 58, the executive vice president and provost at Ohio State University and a physician, will be BU's first woman and first Black president.
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“I’m really excited about how engaged Boston University is in the city and how engagement has been a hallmark of BU,” Gilliam said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to hearing from people, learning and listening. I lead by listening, collaborating, and empowering other people. That is the best way to run big organizations, to get everyone excited and engaged, and doing more than they think they’re capable of doing. This philosophy is core to shared governance, an essential component of a thriving university.”
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Gilliam is familiar with the Boston area, as she graduated from Harvard Medical School, and during her time there collaborated with Boston University School of Public Health researchers, traveling with them to Ecuador to work on a summer project aimed at understanding the health of elderly people.
“From the very beginning, I was able to form that connection to Boston University,” she said. “And I always knew it as a place that was going places that other institutions weren’t.”
Gilliam will succeed Robert A. Brown, who served as B's 10th president from 2005 until he stepped down over the summer. Kenneth Freeman, who has served as interim president since Brown's departure, will remain in the post until Gilliam starts her new position on July 1, 2024.
The school said Gilliam's hiring capped a search that lasted over a year and included nearly 400 potential candidates from across the globe.
“It is a testament to Boston University’s accomplishments and momentum that we were able to attract candidates who were so highly qualified and with such enormous capability,” said Ahmass Fakahany, chairman of the BU board of trustees. “We are at an incredible juncture, and we’ve earned the right to dream big and to fulfill the potential of this University. Hiring Dr. Melissa Gilliam is a tremendous step in that direction.”
