WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of trustees of the George Washington University unanimously approved the appointment of Thomas J. LeBlanc as the university's 17th president. An accomplished academic leader, administrator and professor, Dr. LeBlanc will begin his service at George Washington in August 2017.
"Dr. LeBlanc embodies the qualities the university community articulated through more than 30 town halls and meetings with faculty, students, staff, and alumni, as well as leaders and members from the local community. We have worked hard to find a proven leader who can bring GW to new heights and I believe we have found the ideal person to lead the university into its third century," said Board of Trustees Chair Nelson Carbonell.
Dr. LeBlanc currently serves as executive vice president and provost at the University of Miami. He is both the chief academic officer and the chief budget officer, responsible for the university's 11 schools and colleges, the library system, the division of student affairs, the division of continuing and international education, admissions and financial aid.
"It is a tremendous honor to be selected to lead the George Washington University," said Dr. LeBlanc. "I look forward to building on the work of President Knapp, the Board of Trustees and the university's outstanding students, faculty and staff who have contributed to creating not only a world-class research university but also a vibrant and distinctive educational experience in the heart of our nation's capital."
At Miami, Dr. LeBlanc oversaw the development and implementation of the university's strategic plan. The strategic plan has resulted in improvements in the academic quality of incoming undergraduate students, increased retention and graduation rates for undergraduate students, improvement in the university's funding rank from the National Institutes of Health, a doubling of the number of doctoral programs ranked in the top half of their discipline, a significant increase in the number of faculty in national academies and a dramatic rise in U.S. News & World Report rankings.
He rose through the academic ranks at the University of Rochester, where he was a member of the computer science faculty, vice provost and dean of the faculty of arts, sciences and engineering and Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the College Faculty.
Dr. LeBlanc succeeds current George Washington President Steven Knapp.
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SOURCE George Washington University
