"Dr. Loh is the right person to lead our flagship university to its next level of greatness," said Clifford Kendall, chair of the governing board of the state university system, in a prepared statement dated Tuesday. "His wealth of experience and achievements in higher education demonstrate his strong commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and service as well as his exceptional ability to move institutions forward."The University of Maryland ranks among the top 20 public universities in the annual U.S. News Best Colleges rankings. With over thirty years of experience in higher education, Loh will take over at College Park on November 12, replacing retiring president C.D. Mote.
In a note to the Iowa university community, Loh said his short tenure there had been "the most professionally and personally fulfilling of my entire career." He also stressed that he had not been job-hunting.
"This new opportunity is not one that I sought," he wrote. "The institution and the search consultants recruited me to take part in a relatively quick and confidential search process. I was -- and still am -- rather stunned, while honored to have been appointed."
Loh has more than three decades of higher education experience. As second in command at the University of Iowa since 2008, he has overseen personnel and budgets for the state university's 11 colleges. The University of Iowa has 30,000 students and a $2.6 billion budget.
Loh is the university's first Asian American president. I know I have a lot of readers at the University of Maryland. This is pretty cool, right? More here: Provost Wallace Loh named president of University of Maryland.