Chancellor Sobolik joined other leaders in accounting, banking, construction, education, energy, finance, law, nonprofit management, transportation and more in the Titan 100’s 2023 St. Louis class. Collectively, the group and their companies employ more than 94,000 individuals and generate over $28 billion in annual revenues. (Graphic by Erin Hart)
University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik has been honored as part of the Titan 100 program’s 2023 St. Louis class.
The award recognizes the region’s top 100 CEOs & C-level executives using criteria that includes demonstrating exceptional leadership, vision, and passion.
“The Titan 100 are changing the way that business is done in St. Louis,” Titan CEO President Jaime Zawmon said in a news release announcing this year’s honorees. “These preeminent leaders have built a distinguished reputation that is unrivaled and preeminent in their field. We proudly recognize the Titan 100 for their efforts to shape the future of the St. Louis business community. Their achievements create a profound impact that makes an extraordinary difference for their customers and clients across the nation.”
Sobolik has been honored alongside other leaders in accounting, banking, construction, education, energy, finance, law, nonprofit management, transportation and more. Collectively, the 2023 class and their companies employ more than 94,000 individuals and generate over $28 billion in annual revenues.
Throughout her tenure at UMSL, Sobolik has ensured that the university has maintained a strategic focus on student success, educational relevancy, inclusive prosperity and economic growth and development, and that it has worked collaboratively with other regional and national partners to pursue its goals. Under her leadership, beginning with her tenure as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and continuing with her appointment as chancellor, UMSL has introduced more than a dozen new academic programs, increased graduation rates while reducing student debt, increased private philanthropy by more than 20%, grown research expenditures by 57% and overseen a climb of 69 places in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.
Last year, she helped navigate a capital funding package of $40 million from the state of Missouri that is being used to help transform UMSL’s physical campus as it nears its 60th anniversary. The changes to come will help position it for a vibrant future as one of the country’s premier urban and metropolitan universities.
Sobolik serves as vice president and treasurer of the executive committee for the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and is on the advisory council for the commissioner of the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. She also serves on numerous regional boards including Greater St. Louis Inc., St. Louis Regional Business Council, Cortex Innovation District, the Urban League of Metropolitan Saint Louis, the Greater St. Louis Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and Christian Hospital.
The St. Louis Business Journal named Sobolik one of its Most Influential Business Women in 2020, she received the Frankie Muse Freeman/Norman R. Seay Commitment to St. Louis Award from the St. Louis Chapter of the NAACP last February, and the Urban League of Greater St. Louis presented her with a Distinguished Women’s Leadership Award last September.
“I am humbled to be recognized as part of the Titan 100’s 2023 St. Louis class with so many other distinguished leaders from across our region,” Sobolik said. “My inclusion on this list is a reflection of the great work being done by so many others in our UMSL community to transform the lives of not only our students but many more in the St. Louis area.”
This year’s honorees will be published in a limited-edition St. Louis Titan 100 book and profiled online. They also will be honored at the annual awards ceremony, scheduled for April 6.
