I want to congratulate my colleague, UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert Johnson, on his appointment as President of Western New England University. Western New England has chosen a leader with an entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to student success, and belief in the power of a university to strengthen regional economies.
His leadership, grounded in personal and professional experiences, has been critical to the continued ascension of UMass Dartmouth as a national research university over the last three years, especially during recent months as UMass and all of higher education have confronted unprecedented challenges.
I am thankful to Dr. Johnson for his service to UMass, and will always remember the day he was officially inaugurated when he said: “Our greatest asset is our sense of humanity, and our understanding that on a planet with more than seven billion people that we represent the top one percent in the world, and we must embrace our social responsibility to meet the needs the of the present age.”
Chancellor Johnson has steadfastly advanced that ideal throughout his time at UMass Dartmouth and I am sure he will continue to do so at Western New England University.