I am writing today to let you know that Executive Associate Chancellor Wanda E. Ward has decided to retire this summer. For the past eight years, she has led in a variety of roles, most notably as the inaugural head of our Office of Public Engagement, established in October 2021.
In that role, she advanced the institutionalization of public engagement across the university through a new campus-wide infrastructure, including the Coordinating Council for Public Engagement, the Engaged Unit Program, and the Public Engagement Summit.
She recently oversaw the successful 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, positioning Illinois among nationally recognized institutions demonstrating excellence in reciprocal community engagement and societal impact, and she established the Campus–Community Compact as a long-term framework for university-community partnership and collective impact, advancing collaborative initiatives in accessible technology, community health, wellness and resilience, community relations, economic development, inclusive education, and workforce development.
Prior to that, she joined the university as the Executive Associate Chancellor for Administration and University Relations to serve as Chancellor Jones' inaugural Chief of Staff (2018-2021). In that capacity, she led the chancellor's response to a comprehensive governance audit, translating recommendations into formal workflows that enhanced transparency, clarified decision rights, and elevated institutional accountability. She also advanced governance policies by overseeing the development of structured leadership evaluation processes.
As someone who benefitted from her wisdom during her service at the National Science Foundation, it has been a pleasure to work with her again at this amazing university.
Her final day at Illinois will be July 31, and Director of Public Engagement Kandace Turner will lead the day-to-day operations of the office in the interim period as we explore the best structure for our larger external engagement ecosystem to build on the good work Wanda and her team have done during her tenure. More coordination of and support for our external engagement units has been a key finding in our Illinois Leads strategic planning intake efforts.
Please join me in thanking Dr. Ward for her service and congratulating her on this exciting milestone in her career.
Charles L. Isbell, Jr.
Chancellor