A longtime college administrator from Colorado will be the next president of St. Cloud State University.
Robbyn Wacker was provost at the University of Northern Colorado from 2011 to 2017, when the school’s president reportedly moved her to a fundraising role.
Wacker, 61, previously was Northern Colorado’s assistant vice president for graduate education and dean of the health and human sciences college.
She holds bachelor’s degrees in social sciences and gerontology and a master’s in gerontology from Northern Colorado and a doctorate in sociology from Iowa State University.
Wacker last month was named a finalist for president of Boise State University but withdrew her candidacy.
Devinder Malhotra, chancellor for the Minnesota State system, said Wacker boosted enrollment, created online degree programs and established international partnerships. References called her “effective, inspiring, visionary and collaborative,” he said.
The Minnesota State Board of Trustees approved her hire Wednesday.
Wacker takes over for Ashish Vaidya, who has been interim president since 2016, when Earl Potter died in a car crash.
Vaidya will become president of Northern Kentucky University this summer.