Katsouleas Officially Starts As 16th UConn President

STORRS, CT — He wasn't on his skateboard in a suit — yet — but Thomas C. Katsouleas officially began his tenure as the 16h president of the University of Connecticut on Thursday.

He Tweeted out a welcome:

Good morning, #UConnNation ... I couldn’t be more thrilled to start my presidency here at UConn. I look forward to getting to know the faculty and staff. And students, I’ll see you in a few short weeks! pic.twitter.com/MlhUtFVulp
— Tom Katsouleas (@PrezTomKat) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/PrezTomKat... 1, 2019

And then met Jonathan the Husky:

Worth the wait to meet @UConn’s" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/UConn?ref_... resident good boy @JonathanHusky14! https://t.co/KU92EzQt9G
— Tom Katsouleas (@PrezTomKat) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/PrezTomKat... 1, 2019

A formal inauguration cremony is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 4 at UConn's Jorgensen Center for the Performing arts.

UConn's Board of Trustees in February confirmed the appointment of Katsouleas, a leading plasma scientist and engineer with "deep academic roots in teaching and research."

Katsouleas had been executive vice president and provost at Virginia since 2015, having been appointed to the position after serving for seven years at Duke University as the dean of the Pratt School of Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Katsouleas was among more than 200 applicants for the UConn position, which Susan Herbst left when her contract ended after eight years on the job.

See more on his background here.

In his spare time, Katsouleas enjoys sailing, swimming, surfing, water skiing and other water sports. In fact, the former ocean lifeguard has jokingly noted that he competed "briefly, proudly and ingloriously" as a student athlete playing water polo during his college days.

He's also been known at past universities to scoot across campus on his personalized skateboard, explore the surroundings by motorcycle, and is as comfortable discussing plasma physics as he is catching a wave.