As announced in Chancellor Richard Herman’s massmail last week, the University’s Provost Linda Katehi will be stepping down to accept a position as chancellor at the University of California, Davis pending its Board of Regents’ approval.

Katehi became provost three years ago, Herman said. Besides being known for recruiting academic leaders, guiding the strategic planning process and implementing the IT@Illinois effort, Katehi was also known for her strong scholarly background.

“I was impressed with the combination of her being an engineer with 16 patents to her credit,” said Mary Kalantzis, dean of Education and one of Katehi’s first appointments. “She was a scholar engineer and a first-rate administrator.”

Not only focused on establishing metrics for achievement and performance, Katehi also helped to develop a strong team culture, particularly among the deans of the colleges, Kalantzis added.

The provost’s office said Katehi could not comment on the situation until the decision is made official.

Robert Powell a member of the UC Davis recruitment advisory committee that selected Katehi, said the process for selecting the new chancellor began in October. All members of the committee met on the Davis campus and asked different constituency groups about their aspirations for the University.

“We wanted someone who was an outstanding scholar,” Powell said. “We want to continue on a very strong trajectory of excellence and move into a new realm on how people view us.”

After reading through nearly 600 applications, the committee decided on the second round of applicants and then conducted telephone interviews. Next, the committee decided the final six nominees and presented their choices to UC Davis President Mark Yudof. He then made his recommendation to the Board of Regents, who will make the official decision Thursday.

“I would say there is no doubt whatsoever that the regents are going to approve this,” said current UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef.

He added that should Katehi be approved, one of the first issues she will be dealing with after starting on August 17 is the financial situation, especially in regards to the quality of education.

“This has got to be a reset, not a recovery from a recession,” Vanderhoef said. “How do you live on less without affecting the quality of what you do?”

Vanderhoef announced he would be stepping down from his role last June after being chancellor for the past 15 years. Before that, he served as the provost for 10 years.

“There are other things I want to do in life,” he said.

Vanderhoef said he intends to teach and conduct research in his field of expertise, biology.

Chancellor Herman said he is consulting with deans to name an interim provost in the next week or so. An official provost should be named by January 2010. He said in his e-mail that Katehi will be missed on campus.

“Fundamentally the best thing you can say about a person is that they leave the place better, and she did that,” Herman said.