University of Michigan president‑elect Kent Syverud is being treated for brain cancer and will not take office; interim President Domenico Grasso will continue.
The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor: Key facts
Explore key facts about the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, including its rich history, academic programs, notable alumni, and world-class research facilities.
The University of Michigan’s President-elect Kent Syverud is being treated for brain cancer and will not take over as president as scheduled next month.
Mark Bernstein, chair of the Board of Regents, made the announcement in video address sent to the campus community Wednesday, April 15.
“It is with a heavy heart and with Kent’s permission I share with you that Kent is currently receiving treatment at Michigan Medicine for a form of brain cancer,” Bernstein said, “As a result, Kent will not be able to serve as our next president.”
Bernstein said that Domenico Grasso, who’s been serving as interim president since May, will stay on in that role while the university begins a new search process.
In a statement posted on the university website, Syverud said that he just learned of his diagnosis.
“Last week, I wasn’t feeling well, and I sought care at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse,” Syverud said. “After further evaluation, I traveled to the University of Michigan to receive additional assessment from their specialists. I want to be straightforward with you: I have been diagnosed with a form of brain cancer.”
Syverud thanked both Michigan Medicine and Crouse Hospital at Syracuse for the care he’s received.
“I also find myself reflecting on what this moment has made so vivid to me: the extraordinary gift of great research universities,” he said. “These institutions, places like Syracuse, like Michigan, exist not only to educate and to discover, but to translate that discovery into care for people when they need it most. I am fortunate, in ways I do not take lightly, to be receiving treatment at one of the finest academic medical centers in the world.”
Bernstein said the university would share additional details about the search for a new president when they are available.
“We have no doubt that outstanding candidates will seek an opportunity to lead our great university, because as Kent said earlier this year, Michigan has been, is now and must remain the best public university anywhere,” Bernstein said.
Syverud, currently the President and Chancellor at Syracuse University, was selected in January to be U-M’s 16th president.
The search that led to his selection came after former President Santa Ono stepped down to seek the presidency of the University of Florida, a job he ultimately did not get.
Syverud, 69, is a lawyer who earned a master’s degree and juris doctorate at U-M. Bernstein said that Syverud will still come to U-M.
“Kent will serve as a professor of law at our law school and as a special advisor to the board because we want him to have every opportunity to serve our university,” Bernstein said.
After the board approved him as president-elect in January, Syverud told the Regents meeting that he arrived in Ann Arbor for the first time as a student in May 1978.
“I arrived in front of the Michigan Union on the Greyhound bus with one suitcase,” he said. “I walked across State Street, and my life was changed, as it has been for so many thousands of others before and since, at Flint, at Dearborn, at Ann Arbor, and around the world.”
Syverud also recounted meeting his wife in Ann Arbor and credited Michigan Medicine with saving the life of one of his sons, who was born with a congenital condition that required a rare surgery.
“It really showed me what first-grade healthcare can be in the United States of America,” he said. “We owe Michigan everything. To pay that forward by helping steward this special place now really is the greatest honor and responsibility I can imagine.”
U-M is one of five public universities in the state to add a new president in the past year.
Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, and Wayne State all have added new leaders recently.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Contact John Wisely: [email protected]. On X: @jwisely
