Following an in-depth national search, the University of Missouri Board of Curators appointed Mun Y. Choi, Ph.D., as the 24th president of the University of Missouri System. The former provost and executive vice president of the University of Connecticut (UConn), Choi succeeded interim president Michael Middleton in March 2017.
Choi’s 24-year career in higher education includes his previous position as provost and executive vice president at UConn, one of the nation’s top 20 public universities in the latest U.S. News rankings. At UConn, he oversaw a $700 million budget while working with 1,500 full-time faculty, 31,000 students and 2,000 staff across 12 schools and colleges including Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine and Law. Under his leadership, UConn developed several innovative new programs that have resulted in enrollment growth, increased faculty hiring, innovative research and new and expanded industry partnerships.
Choi graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in general engineering in 1989. He later earned a master’s degree and doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University.
“Becoming president of the University of Missouri System is unquestionably the pinnacle of my professional career,” said Choi. “As a product of and passionate champion for public higher education, I will advocate tirelessly on behalf of our exceptional institutions with state and national business, political and civic leaders to achieve excellence in all that we do, and make sure our great campuses realize their full potential. ”
In “Reviving Rural Missouri,” a guest column Choi wrote for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he described how the School of Dentistry serves as an important resource for Missouri. “The University of Missouri-Kansas City houses the UMKC School of Dentistry, which, as the only public dental school in Missouri, includes courses that deploy students to provide dental care in underserved areas. For some, wellness means planting a garden where there was an empty lot. And just as that garden serves as a symbol of the will to change lives for the better, our hope is that the University of Missouri is more than a system of brick-and-mortar institutions. It is an ethic, and we are striving to ensure that ethic continues to spread across Missouri in all its forms.