List of chancellors of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Incumbent Charles Lee Isbell Jr. since 1 August 2025 [1]
Appointer	Board of Trustees (nominated by the president)
Term length	One year
Inaugural holder	Jack W. Peltason
Formation	September 1, 1967 (58 years ago) (1967-09-01)
Website	chancellor.illinois.edu

The chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the principal administrative officer of the university and a member of the faculty of each of its colleges, schools, institutes and divisions. The chancellor is appointed by the Board of Trustees following nomination by the president of the University of Illinois System. The chancellor performs those duties that are assigned by the president and that are consistent with the actions of the Board of Trustees. The chancellor is assisted by vice-chancellors for academic affairs, administrative affairs, campus affairs, and research. ^[2] Jack W. Peltason served as the first chancellor in 1967, and there have been 13 chancellors in total. The current chancellor is Charles Lee Isbell Jr., who has held the position since 1 August 2025.

Before 1967, the president of the University of Illinois System served as the principal administrator of the original Urbana-Champaign campus. In June 1966, at the recommendation of president David D. Henry, the Board of Trustees switched to a chancellorship system of administration. ^[3] The change established a new administrative office, the "Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign", and renamed the two administrators of the Chicago campuses, Vice president of the University of Illinois at the Medical Center (UIMC) and Vice president of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (UICC), to chancellor. The two Chicago campuses were later consolidated in 1982 to form the University of Illinois at Chicago. ^[4]

List of chancellors

The following person have served as chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: ^{[5] [6]}

List of chancellors

No.	Chancellor		Term start	Term end	Ref.
1		Jack Peltason	September 1, 1967	August 20, 1977
acting		Morton W. Weir	August 2, 1977	December 31, 1977
2		William P. Gerberding	January 1, 1978	June 30, 1979 [a]
acting		John E. Cribbet	July 1, 1979	December 11, 1979
3			December 12, 1979	August 20, 1987 [b]
4		Thomas E. Everhart	August 21, 1984	August 20, 1987 [c]
acting		Morton W. Weir	August 21, 1987	April 13, 1988
5			April 14, 1988	June 30, 1993
6		Michael Aiken	July 1, 1993	August 20, 2001
7		Nancy Cantor	August 21, 2001	June 30, 2004 [d]
acting		Richard Herman	July 1, 2004	June 30, 2005	[7]
8			July 1, 2005	October 26, 2009 [e]	[8] [9]
interim		Robert A. Easter	November 12, 2009	September 30, 2011	[10]
9		Phyllis Wise	October 1 2011	August 11, 2015 [f]	[11] [12]
acting		Barbara J. Wilson	August 12, 2015	September 25, 2016	[13]
10		Robert J. Jones	September 26, 2016	June 30, 2025	[14] [15]
11		Charles Lee Isbell Jr.	August 1, 2025	present	[16]

Timeline of chancellorships

Peltason (1967–77)

Weir (1977, 1987–93)

Gerberding (1978–79)

Cribbet (1979, 1979–84)

Everhart (1984–87)

Aiken (1993–2001)

Cantor (2001–04)

Herman (2004–09)

Easter (2009–11)

Wise (2011–15)

Wilson (2015–16)

Jones (2016–2025)

Isbell Jr. (2025–)

│

1967

│

1977

│

1987

│

1997

│

2007

│

2017

Chancellors of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1967–present)

See also

• List of chancellors of the University of Illinois Chicago
• List of chancellors of the University of Illinois Springfield
• List of presidents of the University of Illinois system

Notes

1. Resign to lead the University of Washington
2. Resigned as a result of issues with the football program.
3. Resigned to lead Caltech.
4. Resigned to lead Syracuse University.
5. Resigned along with President B. Joseph White as a result of the University of Illinois clout scandal.
6. resigned in 2015 after her own litigious controversy as her scandalous emails were released.

References

1. "Meet the Chancellor". Office of the Chancellor. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
2. Board of Trustees (November 12, 2020). University of Illinois Statutes (PDF) (Report). University of Illinois System. p. 2. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
3. Janata, Anthony J., ed. (June 15, 1966). Reports of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 1964–66 (PDF) (Report). Vol. 53. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. p. 1193–94. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
4. "University of Illinois at Chicago: History". UIC Archives. UIC Library. 2016. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
5. Chancellor's Office Subject File, 1967-86. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Archives, University of Illinois Library.
6. "University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Office of the Chancellor". UIUC.
7. Cornish, Sabryna (June 17, 2004). "Herman officially named interim chancellor". University of Illinois.
8. "Approve Richard H. Herman as Chancellor of the Urbana-Champaign Campus" (PDF). University of Illinois. May 19, 2005.
9. "Chancellor Herman resigns, effective Monday". The Daily Illini . October 20, 2009.
10. Ikenberry, Stan (November 13, 2009). "Appointment of Interim Provost/Chancellor Easter". University of Illinois.
11. "Phyllis M. Wise named to lead Urbana campus". University of Illinois. August 4, 2011.
12. "Phyllis Wise To Step Down As U Of I's Urbana Chancellor". WUIS . August 6, 2015.
13. Helentha, Mike (August 20, 2015). "LAS dean Barbara J. Wilson named acting chancellor". UIUC.
14. "Ideal leader". University of Illinois Alumni Association. September 16, 2016.
15. "Chancellor Robert Jones announces resignation from UIUC effective June 2025". WRSP-TV . November 13, 2024.
16. "Charles Lee Isbell Jr. named University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chancellor and U of I System vice president". University of Illinois. June 5, 2025.