UConn President Katsouleas resigns
After two years in the University of Connecticut leadership position, President Thomas C. Katsouleas will be stepping down from his job on June 30 and transition to a tenured faculty position.
Katsouleas was executive vice president and provost of the University of Virginia when the UConn board of trustees unanimously confirmed his appointment in February 2019 and was sworn in as president six months later.
In announcing Katsouleas”™ departure, Daniel Toscano, chairman of the board of trustees, did not state why the president was resigning but stated an interim president would be appointed at the board”™s May 19 meeting.
“UConn is fortunate to have a strong and experienced leadership team who will continue to work together, with the interim president, and with the board to guide our university forward,” Toscano said.
According to a CT Mirror report citing anonymous sources, Katsouleas had been in conflict with the trustees over several decisions that he made unilaterally, including his declaration to offer free tuition for lower-income households and cutting slated tuition increases by half. In his new role as a professor, he will make an annual salary of $330,000.
In an interview with the Business Journal last June, Katsouleas admitted that the Covid-19 crisis created unexpected stress for him as he dealt with “emergency and crisis management on a pretty daily basis.”
“It occurred to me that I kind of aged four months and then four years,” he said. “I don”™t feel like a first-year president anymore. I feel like a seasoned and tested veteran.”