University of Connecticut President Radenka Maric stands among three finalists for the chancellor position at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, introducing fresh questions about leadership stability in Storrs just a week after reports surfaced regarding potential interim succession plans.
Wisconsin officials announced Thursday that Maric is in the running to lead the state’s flagship university, setting up a campus visit and public forum for November 13. The announcement arrives while Maric’s future in Connecticut remains unresolved, with her five-year contract scheduled to expire on June 30, 2027.
The Wisconsin chancellor’s office opened after Jennifer Mnookin departed in mid-May to assume the presidency at Columbia University, leaving Eric Wilcots, then dean of the College of Letters & Science, to take over as interim chancellor. Maric joined UConn’s engineering faculty in 2010 after building an academic career that included work in Japan, Atlanta, and Canada, following her master’s and Ph.D. in materials science and energy from Kyoto University.
Contract Extensions and Succession Planning in Connecticut
Maric’s inclusion on the Wisconsin shortlist comes as her future at UConn remains unsettled. Last week, The Connecticut Mirror reported that university trustees failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension with Maric last June, opting instead to extend their deadline for resolving her status by six months.
That same report indicated that an emissary of the UConn board approached Matt Ritter regarding the possibility of serving as interim president should Maric depart before her contract concludes. Ritter, a partner at the Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodwin, neither confirmed nor denied the approach, though the Mirror reported he would resign from the House if he and UConn reach an agreement.
Dr. Radenka Maric, president of UConn, has been named a finalist to become the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.https://t.co/JcqR1ubwwt https://t.co/KUdudRF67V
UConn officials declined to comment on the unfolding leadership developments.
The Wisconsin Search Process
Wisconsin officials named two other finalists alongside Maric, both hailing from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Rashid Bashir, dean of the College of Engineering, and John Coleman, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.
All three candidates will travel to the Madison campus next week for interviews and separate public forums. They are scheduled to meet with students, faculty and staff representatives, deans, and external partners. A special committee of Wisconsin regents selected the finalists from recommendations provided by a 23-member search committee. Following the campus visits, that special committee will put forward a candidate recommendation to the full Board of Regents, which holds final hiring authority. Wisconsin officials did not announce when they expect to select the next chancellor.
Maric’s current contract, signed in January 2023 and retroactive to September 2022, carries a base salary of $631,350 and runs through the end of June 2027. As the November 13 presentation date approaches, both university communities wait to see whether the leadership search will result in a cross-country departure or a renewed commitment in Connecticut.
