Robert Caret named new UMass president

"I think he can provide outstanding leadership to the University of Massachusetts over the next five years or more," said UMass trustee Philip Johnston, after trustees met with each of the three finalists and deliberated for three hours behind closed doors.

Massachusetts Education Secretary Paul Reville said that although he strongly supported Clay's candidacy because of his accomplishments at MIT, he "enthusiastically supports" the board's choice.

"I was very impressed with all three of the finalists. They were quite different . . . no one of them was perfect but each was strong," Reville said. "I was overwhelmingly impressed with the management experience of Robert Caret."

Caret will succeed Jack M. Wilson as head of a five-campus university struggling to climb into the elite ranks of public universities while contending with multiple rounds of cuts in state funding.

"I'm glad we got through the process. I don't think I could handle much more," said Caret, a chemist and native New Englander as he shook hands with the chancellors of the university campuses. "I look forward to working with you. I'm very excited."

He later thanked the trustees for giving him the challenge.

"We have bigger challenges than we ever had in the past," Caret said. "I look forward to working with board, faculty, and students to put together a plan to really move the system forward."

Caret rose through the ranks of academia, serving as a professor and administrator at Towson University, a 21,000-student public university near Baltimore, for 21 years before becoming president of San Jose State University in California in 1995.

While in San Jose, he spearheaded an innovative partnership with the city and private industry to build the largest library west of the Mississippi, UMass officials said.

A California State University trustee told the San Jose Mercury News in 2003 that Caret reinvigorated San Jose State and made the community a part of the university while raising the school's profile.

Caret returned to Towson in 2003 as president and also headed the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities, whose national headquarters are located on the Towson campus.

Towson was recently recognized by the Education Trust, a Washington think tank with a focus on racial achievement gaps, as one of just 11 colleges in the country whose graduation rates for underrepresented minority students met or exceeded those of whites.

At Towson, 67 percent of white and black students graduate and 70 percent of Hispanic students do – a rare feat in higher education.

According to a Washington Post story published last month on the achievement, Towson has raised black graduation rates by 30 points and closed a 14-point gap between black and white students over the past decade.

Nationally, nearly two-thirds of colleges post graduation rates of less than 50 percent for black students. The Education Trust report found gaps of 15 points or more between white and Hispanic students at some public flagships, including UMass Amherst.

Caret told the Post that the school was able to improve minority graduation rates by admitting students with solid grades from strong public high schools, and using mentors and counselors to track students' progress.

He also has a strong track record of diversifying the student body at Towson, which has been seen as a safety school for students unable to gain admission to the flagship University of Maryland in College Park, according to the Post. Caret was able to nearly triple the number of black freshmen from Baltimore in one year by guaranteeing admission and a partial scholarship to Baltimore high school students who graduated in the top 10 percent of their class.

"The goal has been, if you take them in, you should graduate them," Caret told the Post.
Born in Biddeford, Maine, Caret received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics from Suffolk University and earned his doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire.

Caret's selection culminates a 10-month search process during which committee members seriously considered 50 candidates and interviewed 14. That pool included nontraditional candidates in addition to academics, according to those familiar with the candidates. The committee also considered a number of women and minority candidates.

"I can assure you that diversity has been a paramount consideration," Karam said in today's meeting.

The search appeared to hit a snag last month after former US representative Martin T. Meehan, chancellor of UMass Lowell who some search committee members had identified as an early favorite, dropped out after Governor Deval Patrick and his aides questioned the integrity of the search process.

The governor's interference and Meehan's subsequent withdrawal prompted Robert Manning, former chairman of the UMass trustees, to resign from the board.

"This process has not been easy, and there were moments that were very disturbing and distracting," Karam said.

UMass trustee Henry M. Thomas III, vice chairman of the search committee, said five candidates were considered for the final round but two dropped out before this morning's interviews.

Wilson, a physicist, will step down June 30 after eight years at the helm and will teach about emerging technologies and innovation at UMass Lowell.