Hofstra University Selects Dr. Susan Poser As Next President

UNIONDALE, NY — Hofstra University announced that it has selected its new president. Dr. Susan Poser, who currently works at the University of Illinois Chicago, was unanimously approved by the Hofstra Board of Trustees to take over as the next president of the school in 2021. She will be the university's first female president.

Poser, who is the current provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), will officially take her position on Aug. 1, 2021. She will be replacing Stuart Rabinowitz, who announced earlier this year that he would be retiring when his current term ends on Aug. 31, 2021. She was selected after a year-long search by a 13-person committee Hofstra put together.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Susan Poser as the next president of this great University,” said Hofstra Board Chair Donald Schaeffer, who also served as the chair of the search committee. “In Dr. Poser, we have found a higher education leader of exceptional experience, a collaborative and visionary person, and a scholar of great depth and intellect. Dr. Poser’s leadership skills make her well prepared to succeed President Stuart Rabinowitz, whose extraordinary service has led to years of growth and development for Hofstra University.”

Poser has been the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UIC for five years. It is a Carnegie Research One university with 16 colleges, including seven health sciences colleges, and more than 35,000 students. Ten college deans and the university librarian report directly to her. Her office oversees enrollment management, diversity, faculty affairs, global engagement, undergraduate affairs, and academic programs assessment for all 16 colleges.

“It is a great honor to be named the 9th president of Hofstra University,” said Poser. “Over the past two decades, Hofstra has benefited from outstanding presidential, board, faculty and alumni leadership, creating an excellent platform to meet the challenges of higher education in the post-pandemic world. I am looking forward to joining the Hofstra community and building on this legacy for years to come.”

At UIC, Poser’s major accomplishments include the 2019 acquisition of the John Marshall Law School, creating the first and only public law school in Chicago. Another major focus was the creation of several initiatives to support faculty and enhance diversity, including establishing pipelines for underrepresented faculty; running a bridge program to move underrepresented postdoctoral fellows to faculty positions; creating the Faculty Administrator Leadership Program to mentor faculty; and recently starting up a new Center for Teaching Excellence with a special focus on supporting inclusive classrooms.

She also played a key role in creating two new cultural centers on campus – one focused on Arab American students and another focused on students with disabilities. An advocate of interdisciplinary work, Poser has created regular forums for faculty from across the disciplines to meet and share research in order to generate interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

“I am extraordinarily pleased to welcome Dr. Susan Poser to Hofstra University. Her experience and ability will serve Hofstra University exceptionally well," Rabinowitz said. "I have had the privilege to work with the Hofstra University community — students, faculty, administration and staff, families, alumni and community — for many years, and know that under her leadership, Hofstra University will flourish for years to come.”

Prior to her position at UIC, Poser was a professor of law at the University of Nebraska College of Law, where she served as the dean from 2010-16, and as the associate to the university’s chancellor from 2007-10. While she was dean, the College of Law moved up 35 points in U.S. News rankings and annual giving to the school increased significantly. She also formed the 2044 Alumni Board of Advisors, to make recommendations about diversity in admissions and culture at the law school.

Poser grew up in New York City and majored in Classics at Swarthmore College, graduating with honors. She earned a JD and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Before beginning her academic career, Poser clerked for the Honorable Dolores K. Sloviter, the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, and served as the Zicklin Fellow in Ethics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

She also has a long list of service and leadership roles, including an appointment to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s delegation to Israel. A member of the Economic Club of Chicago, her board service includes the International Women’s Forum (Chicago chapter), the Nebraska Humanities Foundation, the Strategic Air & Space Museum (Omaha) and the ACLU (national board and Nebraska chapter). In Nebraska, she served as the Reporter for adoption of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct by the Nebraska Supreme Court, and received the Shining Light Award from the Nebraska Bar Foundation for this work. She is a member of several bar associations and has served in leadership positions for the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities and the Association of American Law Schools.

“It will be a privilege to work with the Hofstra faculty, who provide an outstanding liberal arts education and a wide array of graduate and professional degrees that lead to satisfying and successful careers for Hofstra graduates,” said Poser. “I’m looking forward to working on the Hofstra campus, with its state-of-the-art facilities and arboretum, and as a native New Yorker, this will be a very happy homecoming.”