Indiana University Bloomington met the second candidate for chancellor, Carl Lejuez, in a Town Hall Thursday.
Lejuez is currently executive vice president and provost at Stony Brook University. The other candidate, Purdue Vice President for Policy Planning David Reingold, met with the community last week.
Read more: IU community meets first chancellor candidate David Reingold
IU President Pamela Whitten and the Board of Trustees announced in June 2024 that the university will create a new role of a Bloomington campus chancellor. The chancellor will serve in the president’s cabinet, oversee the Provost’s Office and lead all Bloomington campus functions.
Lejuez said he values shared governance, describing the need to work with faculty, students and staff throughout the town hall. He said the future chancellor will help build communication, understanding and appreciation across campus.
Lejuez said he’s trying to understand the opportunities and issues with this role. Lejuez said if this role works, it will be someone who can figure out how to tell the story of the administration’s goals as well as faculty’s thoughts on the changes.
He said based on his time learning about the role, faculty and the administration have similar goals.
“It’s just figuring out how to hear and see each other,” Lejuez said.
Read more: The Bloomington chancellor search committee is asking for feedback. Here’s what faculty want
IU said it was looking for candidates who are familiar with Bloomington. Lejuez doesn’t have ties to Indiana, but he stressed the value of public, flagship campuses such as IU in the Midwest. A first-generation college student from the East Coast, he said the culture didn’t support public colleges as much as private ones.
Lejuez previously worked as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at University of Kansas and as executive vice president for academic affairs of the University of Connecticut.
IU hired the firm Isaacson, Miller to help guide the search.
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright .
