NEWARK — University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis will depart from the university on June 30, a full year before his contract expires.
The decision comes as Assanis recently celebrated the opening of interdisciplinary science center Building X, after a rush of expansion projects on campus. He also led Delaware’s largest university through the COVID-19 pandemic as well as through several financial struggles, including layoffs and funding cuts in the past five years.
In a letter to the campus community, Assanis wrote that he felt it was time to move on as he had made the “meaningful contributions” that he set out to accomplish.
“UD is a remarkable place with a vibrant culture of interdisciplinary inspiration to reimagine what’s possible in higher education,” he said in a statement. “I will forever treasure my experience of leading such an extraordinary institution defined by amazing students, talented faculty, dedicated staff and a vast network of loyal alumni and friends who support its mission.”
Assanis will continue to work until June 30, after which an interim president will take over. The UD Board of Trustees will launch a search for a permanent leader at that time.
His departure comes at a time when other top university leaders departed. UD Chief Operations Officer and Executive Vice President John Long will retire on May 14, after six years of service. UD Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Mary Remmler, resigned on April 30. She came to UD in 2016 in a different role, after serving as associate vice president for financial planning at Stony Brook University.
The interim president will be announced July 1.
“I want to thank Dennis Assanis for his inspiring leadership and service as the University of Delaware’s 28th president. His tireless commitment and bold vision have been transformative, advancing the University to new levels of accomplishment, promise and potential,” UD Board of Trustees Chair Terri Kelly said in a prepared statement. “As we look ahead to the next chapter in the University’s leadership, President Assanis’ legacy of purpose-driven, positive change will forever have an impact on UD’s continued future of institutional excellence.”
Assanis arrived at UD in 2016, after serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Stony Brook University in New York and as vice president for Brookhaven National Laboratory Affairs, a federal research facility connected to Stony Brook. He previously taught and conducted research at the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He succeeded former UD President Patrick Harker, who left to become the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
In his early years, Assanis embarked on an ambitious campaign to raise enrollment. Today, UD is on track to set a record for first-year student applications, exceeding 41,000, a 50% rise from 2016.
He also worked to open access to financial aid for students, through scholarships and the new program First State Promise, which covers tuition and fees for Delawareans who are coming from families with incomes under $75,000. Today, one-third of Delawarean students at UD are covered by the program.
Under Assanis’ tenure, undergraduate financial aid at the university increased from $94 million to $185 million.
The UD president also led the university through a time of significant capital investment, through new residence halls, labs, athletic centers and the school’s football stadium. He also oversaw the significant expansion of the STAR Campus with the addition of the Chemours Discovery Lab, the FinTech Center and more. This week, UD officials will celebrate the groundbreaking of a mixed-use building at the STAR Campus.
But Assanis also faced significant challenges in his eight years, including how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic that kept many students from attending in-person courses. That caused a $250 million budget deficit and resulted in laying off 1,100 part-time employees, salary freezes and reductions as well as laying off 122 full-time employees in 2020.
This year, UD is already preparing for headwinds as the Trump administration has been targeting several funding resources for cuts, including National Institute of Health contracts to the tune of $40 million a year. Several projects, including the future Securing American Biomanufacturing Research and Education (SABRE) Center, will not be funded through congressional spending this time.
Still, he remained optimistic about the future, particularly as it relates to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). Delaware congressional leaders hope there is a chance for funding through the U.S. Department of Defense.
“The work that we do here at the STAR Campus is so critical to national security,” he told the Delaware Business Times at an event in April. “We’re training here [NIIMBL and SABRE] the next generation of leaders for these critical fields. I feel very good about our position to grow and deliver results in the nation.”
