Aiken leaving U. for Illinois

Provost Michael Aiken will be named chancellor of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana at a press conference this morning, Aiken said last night. Aiken said he will be in Illinois for today's announcement but added that the Illinois Board of Trustees should make the appointment official on February 12. "It's a step up in terms of responsibility," he said. "The chancellor is responsible for the whole campus. It's one of those natural [career] progressions." "[Illinois is] one of the great research universities in the nation," he added. "It has a wonderful reputation. I've spent all of my career in major research universities." Aiken called the offer "an unusual opportunity" he could not pass up, but said that he will miss the University. "I have considerable sadness because I love this university," he said. Aiken said he told as many of his colleagues as he could reach last night of the appointment, including President Sheldon Hackney, who he said was "enormously supportive of me." Earlier last night, Hackney said he did not know whether the report was true. "If it's true -- and I can't say it is -- it's wonderful news for Michael Aiken," he said. In November, Aiken was passed over for the presidency of the University of Texas at Austin after making a five-person short list. That job was offered to Robert Berdahl, the vice chancellor at Illinois. Chancellor is the chief administrative position at Illinois, a campus of 36,200 students and 22,000 faculty members, said Illinois spokesperson Jeff Unger. The position is just under the university president, who oversees the entire university system. Before Aiken was named provost of the University in 1987, he was dean of the School of Arts and Sciences for three years and a sociology professor for one year. Current Illinois Chancellor Morton Weir, who announced his resignation in the middle of last year, will step down in June to resume teaching psychology, Unger said. Illinois spokespersons said the search began in August. The school is located in east-central Illinois, 140 miles south of Chicago. The campus is home to more than 200 buildings and the largest academic library at a public university. Unger said Illinois is considered one of the more selective schools in the Big 10 conference. The appointment takes effect in July, and Aiken said he would stay on as provost until that time. Staff writer Stephanie Desmon contributed to this story.