University of Wisconsin Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin  has been named the next President of Columbia University. Mnookin had a successful 8-year tenure at UCLA prior to joining UW as the 30 th chancellor. Prior to joining UCLA she taught at the University of Virginia School of Law and at Harvard Law School. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School, and a Ph.D. in History and Social Study of Science and Technology from M.I.T.

Kent Syverud, a former law school dean and chancellor and president of Syracuse University, returns to the University of Michigan where he has been named  the 16th president on January 12, 2026.   He begins his 5-year term  on July 1, 1026. Prior to his most recent presidency at Syracuse University, Kent Syverud was dean at the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis and the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor. Before Washington University, Syver

Prior to his appointment as the 8 th  President of Golden Gate University  in San Francisco effective November 1, 2025, Brent White served as the chief global officer at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa  and a professor at the William S. Richardson School of Law. He previously served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Golden Gate University and vice president for global affairs and dean of global education at the University of Arizona, where he was also a