Kent D. Syverud
Term of Office: January 2014 –
Inauguration Date: 11 April 2014
The University’s twelfth Chancellor and President, Kent Syverud, was elected by the Board of Trustees in September 2013. With a background as a legal scholar and educator and an academic administrator, he has worked to position the University for growth and recognition as a global research institution. Through the development of an Academic Strategic Plan, part of the Fast Forward Syracuse initiative, Syverud’s administration identified four key priorities: providing an outstanding undergraduate experience, empowering research excellence, fostering innovation, and making the University the best higher education institution for veterans and military-connected students. He has overseen a period of physical transformation of the University informed by the Campus Framework, a guide for campus planning and development intended to sustain an inclusive and accessible campus and ensure facilities are available to support the goals of the Academic Strategic Plan. Projects include the Einhorn Family Walk, the National Veterans Resource Complex, and the Barnes Center at the Arch replaced the aging Archbold Gymnasium. Syverud has been recognized for his commitment to student veterans and for enhancing the University’s relationship with the Haudenosaunee. Syverud’s administration has experienced significant periods of student activism, including movements such as THE General Body in fall 2014 that coalesced around demands for increased transparency in student services and training regarding issues of racially marginalized groups, and #NotAgainSU during the 2019-2020 academic year in response to a series of racist graffiti and hate speech incidents on campus. The demands of the later movement bore many similarities to those raised in 2014. In the spring of 2020, Syverud oversaw the University’s response to the COVID-19 global health emergency, including the early termination of study abroad programs during the spring semester and the transition to non-residential instruction.
Chancellor Syverud continues the tradition of his predecessors in conducting an Annual Chancellor’s Review of the Army and Air Force ROTC cadets. Leaders from the University’s Office of Veterans and Military Affairs, special guests, alumni, and community members join him in this celebration.