An entrepreneurial spirit. Experience running a large and complex enterprise. The ability to implement a strategic vision.
These are traits the next Syracuse University chancellor needs to hold.
Chancellor Kent Syverud announced he would step down as chancellor at the end of the school year. He’s held the position since 2013.
Now, 26 people are tasked with identifying the best person to take over at Central New York’s biggest employer. This includes the two co-chairs of the search committee, a pair of alums who work in finance and youth leadership.
The next chancellor will lead the sixth largest university in the state of New York, with 23,000 students, 1,900 faculty, 6,000 total staff and a $1.9 billion operating budget.
The job description for the chancellor, which went live Oct. 14, looks at SU’s past and future. It highlights how SU’s endowment has grown to $2.2 billion, how the school helped convince Micron to build in Syracuse and how it has expanded its commitment to veterans.
Looking ahead, the next leader will need to grapple with a changing landscape of higher education. The federal government is seeking more control over universities and restricting grant money. Rising tuition costs are frustrating students and parents.
Locally, the university will have a role to play in what happens after the remaking of I-81 and the surrounding area, and the arrival of Micron.
The job likely pays upwards of $1 million. Syverud made more than $1 million last year, plus deferred compensation of more than $500,000, syracuse.com reported.
A 24-person committee led by co-chairs Shelly L. Fisher and Elisabeth “Lisa” Fontenelli has been tasked with choosing one person to recommend to the school’s Board of Trustees, which has the final say. That committee, which has partnered with global executive search and leadership advisory firm Spencer Stuart, is composed of trustees, students, professors, faculty and alumni, Fontenelli and Fisher told syracuse.com.
“Board (of Trustees) chair Jeff Scruggs, and Shelly and I work together to try to make sure that we had the right representation of different lenses on the university,” Fontenelli said. “You want to make sure that you have people with the perspectives of what it’s like to have boots on the ground, what’s happening in the academic enterprise, what’s happening with athletics, what’s happening with veterans. These are all the core tenets of the University.”
The committee aims to bring its recommendation for a new chancellor to the board by the end of the first quarter of 2026, which is near the end of March, Fontenelli and Fisher said. The chancellor should then take over in July 2026.
What traits are important?
The first value listed is on the job description is keeping SU fiscally responsible. It states that while the school is in a good spot and able to invest in itself, the next chancellor needs to continue the momentum. Concrete goals include increasing the endowment through fundraising, expanding financial aid and investing in successful programs.
Athletics are given similar weight and importance as academics.
“We’ve characterized the academic enterprise and the research and teaching excellence and the athletic enterprise and Division I athletics as both being really core tenets of what it means to have a Syracuse University experience,” Fontenelli said.
For academics, keeping SU a top research institute and supporting “free expression” are two main goals, according to the job description.
College sports are a lucrative field that require attention. With the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rights, the transfer portal and the start of SU directly paying college athletes, there have been many changes in recent years. One of SU’s top sports, men’s basketball, had a losing season last year, resulting in the team being ranked 14th out of the 18 teams in the ACC.
“What happens in college athletics and how Syracuse University continues to participate at the highest level possible with a national presence is a big question and one that the new chancellor will have to grapple with,” Fontenelli said.
When asked if diversity will be a factor, considering that of the 12 chancellors, all have been white and 11 have been men, Fontenelli and Fisher said, “We’re looking for the best person for the job.”
How will the committee choose?
After Syverud stepped down, Scruggs chose trustees Fontenelli and Fisher to lead the search committee.
Fontenelli, a 1986 graduate of the Whitman School of Management and the Newhouse School of Public Communications, is the former managing director at Goldman Sachs and is based in New York City.
Fisher, a 1980 Newhouse graduate, is the founder and president of Herb It Forward, which gives scholarships and leadership experience to youth in Philadelphia, where she lives.
When the group first began meeting, Fisher and Fontenelli spent time getting everyone comfortable with each other while identifying what traits people want for the next chancellor. There have been both in-person and online meetings, since not all members live in Syracuse.
In September and October, the committee held several community listening sessions and met with important community figures, including Sharon Owens, the front-runner in this year’s mayoral race and an SU alumnus.
Looking ahead, the committee and Spencer Stuart will narrow their options and members will begin interviewing candidates. During the last search, the committee interviewed Syverud over the phone multiple times and then held two in-person interviews at SU’s Lubin House in New York City, syracuse.com reported in 2013.
When it comes to choosing one candidate to recommend to the Board of Trustees, Fisher and Fontenelli are not sure what that process will look like. Making the final decision can take “a lot of paths” and it will depend on if the group feels strongly about one candidate, Fontenelli said.
For example, the committee made a “unanimous” decision for Syverud 12 years ago, Richard L. Thompson, former chairman of the SU Board of Trustees, previously told syracuse.com.
“Everybody (on the committee) is going to have a chance to weigh in,” Fisher said.
Here are the 24 members of the search committee:
- Richard M. Alexander: Board of Trustees vice chair and 1982 graduate
- Joanne F. Alper: life trustee and 1972 graduate
- Steve Ballentine: voting trustee and 1983 graduate
- Sharon R. Barner: voting trustee and 1979 graduate
- Steven W. Barnes: Board of Trustees vice chair and 1982 graduate
- Alexia Chatzitheodorou: College of Arts and Science Ph.D. candidate
- Daniel A. D’Aniello: life trustee and 1968 graduate
- Tula Goenka: Newhouse School of Public Communications professor and 1986 graduate
- Chris E. Johnson: College of Engineering and Computer Science professor
- Lawrence S. Kramer: Board of Trustees vice chair and 1972 graduate
- Mark J. Lodato: Newhouse School of Public Communications dean
- Ryleigh Mellen: College of Law J.D. candidate
- German Nolivos: Student Government Association president
- Brice Nordquist: College of Arts and Sciences associate professor
- Ronald P. O’Hanley: voting trustee, 1980 graduate
- Brett Padgett: senior vice president and chief financial officer
- Beth Patin: School of Information Studies associate professor
- Andrea Persin: College of Arts and Sciences assistant dean of budget, finance and administration, 2025 graduate
- Kira Reed: Whitman School of Management associate professor
- Shane Sanders: David B. Falk College of Sport professor
- Jeff Scruggs: Board of Trustees chairman
- Emily Stokes-Rees: College of Visual and Performing Arts professor
- Mike Tirico: Board of Trustees vice chair and 1988 graduate
- Pun To “Douglas” Yung: College of Engineering and Computer Science teaching professor
