Richard Herman

Richard Herman
Statistics
Nationality	American

Richard H. Herman served as the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005-2009. He previously served there as Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs since 1998. While at the university he promoted excellence and diversity across the breadth of academic programs. As provost he garnered support for, and administered, a “faculty excellence” program designed to bring established faculty to the institution. Over the course of his administrative tenure, sponsored research at the university increased by more than 50%.

Through fund raising and additional allocations of state funds he ensured increases in support for graduate students and undergraduates. Of particular note is his creation of the Illinois promise Program designed to <Chicago Sun Times: Making College Dream Reality> provide additional grants to students of poverty level families, helping them to graduate debt free. Acknowledging the effect of this program on minorities in Chicago the Rainbow Push Program named him as Educator of the Year in 2009.

In addition to abetting an increase in the research profile of the university, Herman promoted private sector partnerships by supporting the creation of a Research Park and, in particular, by helping to secure a $500 million grant from BP in partnership with Berkeley. Commitments to the creation of the Institute for Genomic Biology and the garnering of the Petascale Award with IBM from the National Science Foundation ensured continued scientific and technological leadership for the university

During his tenure the Brilliant Futures campaign was launched and raised more than $1.1 billion. Herman helped to secure a number of gifts including $100 million from alumnus Tom Siebel for support of research in science and technology, $14 million for a Center for Brazilian Studies from the Lemann Family and an anonymous gift of $40 million for undergraduate student support.

Over the course of his 11 years as university administrator, Herman did a great deal to globalize the university, vastly increasing the presence of international students matriculating as undergraduates, nearly doubling the percentage of those studying abroad, raising funds for the establishment of a center on Brazilian studies and facilitating the establishment of a university center in partnership in Singapore. For this he received the Malone Award from APLU in 2009.

Before coming to Illinois, he served as Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park and Chair of the Department of Mathematics at the Pennsylvania State University. He has been a visiting faculty member and fellow at the University of Marseilles and Princeton University.

In 1963, he received a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from the Stevens Institute of Technology. In 1967, he earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Maryland.

A mathematician, Herman consistently stresses the need to better position the sciences to engage the emerging needs of society. In addition to his role at the university he has been asked to serve on a national scale and is presently a member of the Executive Advisory Committtee for the U.S. Council on Competitiveness Manufatufacturing Initiative . Most recently he chaired the Science,and Mathematics Teacher Imperative (SMTI)of the Association of Public Research Universities (APLU) which engaged 130 public universities to help ensure the presence of 100,000 new K-12 teachers in these areas. He presently serves as a member of the SMTI Steering Committtee.

President Bush appointed Dr. Herman to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, serving on subcommittees which advised the President on nanotechnology, networking and information technology and university-private sector partnerships. He co-chaired the High Performance Computing Inititiative for the Council on Competitiveness as well as serving on the steering committee for its Energy, Security, Innovation and Sustainability Initiative and the Council’s Executive Committtee.

Herman served as chair of the Council of Presidents for the University Research Association in 2007. He also served on, and was chair of ,the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences , 1993–1997, served as chair of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics and as a member of the Observatories Council, the Management Council of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.

Herman's research specializes on mathematical physics and operator algebras.

Honors

Herman is an Eagle Scout and a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

In 2008 Herman was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Rainbow Push Program named Herman as Educator of the Year in 2009.

Herman received the Malone Award from APLU in 2009.

Admissions Controversy

Main article: University of Illinois clout scandal

The Chicago Tribune reported on Friday, May 29, 2009 that several students had been admitted to the University based upon connections or recommendations by Board of Trustees, Chicago politicians, and members of the Rod Blagojevich administration. The improprieties occurred, according to the Tribune, on the Urbana-Champaign campus headed by Herman. The Tribune obtained through a FOIA request several emails between Herman, then law dean Heidi Hurd and others spanning a number of years and establishing without any doubt that preferential treatment had been given to well-connected students. The Tribune also reported on one case in which the University's president, B. Joseph White, had received a recommendation for a relative of a subsequently convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko to be admitted. The Tribune posted emails of Herman to admissions staff pushing for less qualified students to be accepted, citing particularly an exchange between Herman, admissions officers, and then-dean of the college of law Heidi Hurd. The controversy has sparked condemnation from student trustee Paul Schmitt and state lawmakers. It is quite unusual for deans, let alone provosts, to interfere with admissions staff in deciding whether or not to admit individual applicants. Their usual role is to provide guidance and direction as to admissions policies.

As a result of the clout controversy, several state lawmakers including Representatives, Naomi Jakobsson, Chapin Rose, and Bill Black have called for legislative investigations. Chairman of the Illinois House of Higher Education Committee, Representative Mike Boland, has called for Herman's and White's removal, as well as several administrators including and members of the Board of Trustees, saying "They were trusted to protect our university. In my eyes, they failed in that regard and they should resign."

In September 2009, Urbana alumni in the Chicago area wrote to the governor and board of trustees praising Herman for his many accomplishments during his term as Chancellor. These included highlighting his fundraising leadership and efforts to raise the campus' share of the Brilliant Futures $2.25 billion campaign, his efforts to increase Urbana's research presence including leading in creating the Energy Biosciences Institute, a $500 million research program to study converting plant biomass to fuel, helping to create an outreach effort with Chicago Public Schools to increase recruitment of students and increasing diversity on campus, among other accomplishments.

After months of calls for his resignation, on 20 October 2009 Herman announced he would resign as Chancellor for his role in the controversy. He was replaced in August 2011 by Phyllis Wise, the former Interim President and current Provost of the University of Washington.