Less than five months after announcing his intention to resign, the Arizona Board of Regents have already found a replacement for the University of Arizona’s outgoing President Robert C. Robbins.
On Friday, the board voted to extend an offer to Suresh Garimella, the current president at the University of Vermont.
Garimella, an engineer originally from India, has been the president at the University of Vermont since 2019. Before that, he served in leadership roles at Purdue.
When the search was first announced, Regent Doug Goodyear said the board didn’t want to be bureaucratic: “We want to be able to move fast.”
So how did the presidential search come together so fast? Here’s a look at the timeline.
April 2: UA President Robbins announces his impending resignation.
Robbins, in an email to the campus community, wrote that he intended to resign by the time his contract ended in June 2026, noting that he would leave his post sooner if the regents found a suitable replacement.
His resignation came after months of criticism from faculty, staff, students and community members about the UA’s $177 million deficit. Many blamed a failure of Robbins’ leadership on the university’s financial crisis.
In a statement at the time, ABOR Chair Cecilia Mata said the national search for his successor would “move forward with expediency.”
April 15: ABOR announces the members of the presidential search advisory committee.
Made up of five faculty members, three regents, one student, one staff member and various university leaders and community members, the committee is tasked with creating a position profile and narrowing down initial candidates.
“We would have loved to have had every college and every constituency be a part of the committee, of course, but the goal here was to be nimble and to cover as much of the campus as we could with the size that we have,” Regent Fred DuVal, a member of the committee, said at the time.
April 17: In their first meeting, members of the search advisory committee express their preference for a new president that comes from an academic background.
“I worry about getting folks from outside of academia who may not be able to hit the ground running in the way that we need,” Joellen Russell, a distinguished professor in geosciences and member of the committee, said at the time. “I’d like to see somebody who is a top scholar and teacher. I’d like to see somebody who’s a top recruiter within academia.”
April 23: ABOR hires firm SP&A Executive Search to assist the search advisory committee.
“Hiring this firm is the next step in the search process,” ABOR Chair Cecilia Mata said in a written statement at the time. “The firm has a long history of excellence in conducting searches for university presidents, including (Northern Arizona University) President Cruz Rivera just three years ago.”
Though the hiring was announced by ABOR, the UA is footing the $275,000 bill for the firm’s services.
April 24: In his first remarks to the committee, Alberto Pimentel, co-founder of SP&A Executive Search said the marketplace for a new university president is “going to be crowded.”
“Expediency means that you move at a level of sure footedness,” Pimentel said at the time.
Regent Goodyear notably did not commit to a number of finalists at the time.
“Some of it will depend on the pool of prospects,” he said. “If it turns out there’s only one, we might have to deal with that differently.”
Mark Stegeman, a professor in the Eller College of Management, the Faculty Senate parliamentarian and a member of the committee said there was “an advantage given the historical strengths of the university for someone who has a science or engineering background.”
In a forum hosted that evening, the incoming student body president of the Associated Students of UA, Adriana Grijalva, said there were not enough students on the committee. Just one, Tobi Abington, had a spot, and he was set to graduate that spring.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job right if I didn’t fight for a seat in this committee to advocate on behalf of all students,” Grijalva said. “My commitment to students is to be a voice for change and an advocate for all, and that is why it is important to have student representation in this committee.”
May 1: A second forum, set during the last day of classes (and the day after a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus was broken up by the police), drew a crowd of under 10 people, with only two speakers.
Despite the low turnout, Regent DuVal stated that the search committee had seven meetings that day with different “stakeholder groups” across campus.
May 8: The majority of those who responded to the online survey released by the search firm said the next president should have academic experience.
May 15: Committee members push for more emphasis on the scientific advancements made at the UA in the forthcoming position profile for the presidency.
David Hahn, dean of the College of Engineering and a member of the committee, said that there should be a bigger emphasis on the business, engineering, agriculture and life sciences program in the profile.
May 21: The search consultants have already started calling potential candidates, causing search committee members to question the speed of the search.
Pimentel said the group has “started calling individuals, letting them know that the search is underway” and asking if potential candidates would be interested.
“I’m kind of surprised if that happened without our knowledge,” said search committee member and Robbins booster Humberto Lopez.
Pimentel urged the editing process of the position profile to wrap up, as well.
“We need to put the ads out this week and we need to start distributing the documents,” he said in the meeting, prompting concern.
“Why do we have to get this out immediately?” questioned search committee member Mark Stegeman. “What is the legal or financial or other risk to a delay?”
May 31: With the release of the position profile, the search committee announces it will begin reviewing applications “immediately” and will “continue to accept applications and nominations until the position is filled.”
June 18: Several candidates for the presidency are set to speak with members of ABOR as the search makes “significant progress,” according to Pimentel at the time.
He added that the search isn’t quite at the stage to conduct first-round interviews, but that it was moving “at a pace that is not only brisk but very inclusive” and that it could terminate “somewhere in the near future.”
August 7: ABOR votes to begin interviewing potential UA presidents.
August 8: ABOR announces its intention to interview just one finalist, Suresh Garimella. Garimella was on campus that week and privately met with various campus stakeholders.
August 9: ABOR interviews Garimella in executive session, then publicly votes to offer him the presidency.
