Chancellor Kristin Sobolik will serve a two-year term as vice president and treasurer of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities after being elected during CUMU’s 27th annual conference last month. (Photo by August Jennewein)

University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik has been elected to help lead the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities.

Sobolik won a vote of presidents and chancellors of CUMU member institutions to serve a two-year term as vice president and treasurer on the coalition’s 14-member executive committee. CUMU announced the newly elected members of the executive committee on Tuesday, and the vote was held Oct. 25 during the presidents’ council meeting at the coalition’s 27th annual conference in San Diego.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Chancellor Sobolik as vice president of the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities Executive Committee,” CUMU Executive Director Valerie Holton said. “As a founding CUMU institution, the University of Missouri–St. Louis has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to leading the concepts of university-community engagement and stewardship in place. Dr. Sobolik is an admired leader in continuing this work, and I know that her commitment to CUMU will advance each of our more than 100 member institutions throughout the nation and world.”

Sobolik, appointed the eighth chancellor in UMSL history in April of 2020, first joined CUMU’s executive committee as a member at large last January. She is a strong believer in the coalition’s mission of promoting and enhancing urban and metropolitan universities.

“Universities like ours are vital to the communities they serve, providing educational opportunities and outreach on pressing economic and social issues, and the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities has long been an invaluable resource to share ideas about how best to meet those challenges,” Sobolik said. “I’m proud to have the opportunity to serve in a leadership position as we learn from each other and work to build stronger communities through education, research and service.”

Blanche M. Touhill was acting UMSL chancellor when the university signed onto the original Declaration of Metropolitan Universities, formalizing CUMU as an organization in 1990. Sobolik’s predecessor, Tom George, was also active in the organization, getting elected vice president and treasurer in 2014 and serving as president between 2017 and 2019.

Read the full announcement of CUMU’s 2022-24 executive committee.