05/09/2022
By UMass President Marty Meehan

I am very pleased to announce that Julie Chen has been named the next Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. At my recommendation, the UMass Board of Trustees approved Chen’s appointment today by a unanimous vote.

With her vast experience in all those areas that will determine the success of the university in the years ahead, and with her deep commitment to empowering students and communities through education and innovation, Julie Chen is the right person at this moment to lead UMass Lowell. I have complete confidence that UMass Lowell will build on the many achievements of the last several years under Chancellor Jacquie Moloney’s outstanding leadership.

Chen first joined the UMass Lowell community in 1997, after six years as an assistant professor at Boston University, and her contributions to the university since then have been enormous in scale and in impact.

In 2009, when I was still chancellor, I appointed Chen as the first permanent Vice Provost for Research for the university. In 2016, Chancellor Moloney elevated Chen further to the role of Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation, an executive cabinet level position which has supported the implementation of the UMass Lowell 2020 Strategic Plan. Over the last 13 years, Chen has led the university’s research and development enterprise. During that time, UMass Lowell’s overall research and development expenditures have nearly doubled, reaching a record $95 million this year, and its commercialization and economic development impact has grown alongside it, establishing UMass Lowell as one of the leading research universities in the Northeast.

Under her leadership, UMass Lowell has launched and expanded pioneering research partnership models that connect academia, government and industry through things like the Fabric Discovery Center, M2D2, iHub, UMass Lowell’s Core Research Facilities, The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy, and various institutes and centers like the Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute and HEROES.

Additionally, Chen’s experience and distinction extend far beyond the academic and research enterprises. Throughout her career, she has been a vocal advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the university, and she currently serves as the co-lead for the university’s Council on Social Justice and Inclusion. She was also one of the co-principle investigators on a $3.5 million ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant from the National Science Foundation, which was focused on elevating women faculty in STEM disciplines.

Chen also knows what it is to represent UMass Lowell at the statewide level, as she currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Tech Collaborative, on the board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, on the board of the Massachusetts Cybersecurity Strategy Council, and a member of the Massachusetts Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative.

Beyond all of that, Julie Chen has also distinguished herself as a person, scholar, leader and an advocate for students. Throughout this process, I have been flooded with stories from all corners of the university and community about the impact that she has had on individuals and have seen firsthand the deep and genuine respect that this community has for her.

Julie Chen is the transformative leader that the UMass Lowell community deserves. I am confident that she will continue to bring the same skill, passion and commitment to this role that have so distinguished her service over the past 25 years.