The following message was sent to the WPI community:
Dear WPI Community:
It is my honor and pleasure to share with you the news that the search for WPI’s 17th president has come to a successful conclusion.
Grace Wang, PhD, a materials scientist and accomplished and collaborative leader in higher education, government, and industry, will join the university on April 3, 2023.
Over the past 21 years, Grace has distinguished herself through her work at IBM/Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, the National Science Foundation, the State University of New York System (SUNY), SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and, most recently, at The Ohio State University. At each of these organizations, she has excelled at building collective vision and developing partnerships and resources that advanced their missions.
Grace has long held WPI’s distinctive approach to teaching and learning in high esteem. She also shares our commitment to wellness, inclusion, and belonging. This makes it especially fitting that she is on campus on Wellness and Community Day. Please join me today in a welcome program and reception starting at 11 am in the Odeum for those on campus; others are welcome to join us online via Zoom or YouTube.
I am grateful to the entire community for such strong engagement in and support of the process that will culminate in Grace's joining WPI. In the spring of 2022, stakeholders from across WPI defined the most important opportunities and challenges facing the institution and the attributes essential for our next leader. This input effectively guided our search activities.
We owe a special debt of gratitude to the students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and trustees who served on the search committee, to the members of the advisory group, and to WPI Trustee David LaPré ’74 for his stewardship of the search. They brought a rich and diverse set of backgrounds and perspectives to the effort, an unwavering commitment to an inclusive and consultative process, and a constant focus on the best possible outcome for WPI.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the commitment and care that Wole Soboyejo has brought to the interim presidency. He will continue to serve WPI in this role until Grace assumes the presidency next spring, at which time he will continue as provost and senior vice president. Wole and Grace have begun collaborating on a leadership transition plan.
I speak for the Board of Trustees in expressing confidence that Grace is the right leader at the right time for WPI. You can learn more about her in the press release being issued this morning.
Please join me in providing Grace with a warm welcome and hearty congratulations.
Sincerely,
Bill
Bill Fitzgerald ’83 - Chair, WPI Board of Trustees