University of Connecticut Board of Trustees Chair Dan Toscano has resigned, and Gov. Ned Lamont has appointed West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor to take his place, the governor’s office announced in a press release Friday.
Toscano has served as chair since 2019. In a statement, Lamont said he picked Cantor to fill the role for her keen understanding of UConn’s needs and strong connections with Connecticut businesses, which he hopes to see translate into stronger ties between the university and state employers.
“[Shari Cantor’s] input is going to significantly benefit the university and its mission to develop the graduates who will flourish in today’s rapidly evolving, modern economy,” Lamont said.
The governor’s press release did not say why Toscano resigned from the board. Cantor and Toscano did not return requests for comment.
Cantor was already a member of the board prior to her appointment as chair. She takes the leadership role following some uncertainty about the future of UConn’s President Radenka Maric. Speculation flared when news broke in October that House Speaker Matt Ritter was being considered as a possible interim UConn president; Ritter has since announced he will remain in his role as Speaker.
“My understanding is there won’t be a vacancy, so there’s nothing to consider,” Ritter told The Connecticut Mirror on Wednesday.
The Hartford Courant reported on Nov. 6 that Maric was in the running for chancellor at the University of Wisconsin; a University of Wisconsin spokesperson told the Courant Thursday she was still a finalist there. Her contract with UConn is set to last until June 2027.
In a written statement, Cantor said she looks forward “to working collaboratively with President Radenka Maric, my fellow trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni to build on UConn’s remarkable momentum.”
Higher Education and Employment Committee co-Chair Sen. Derek Slap, D-West Hartford, said he’s “delighted” that Lamont has appointed Cantor — his mayor — as the new chair.
“I think her devotion to UConn is really unmatched,” Slap told The Connecticut Mirror. “I’ve seen how she leads. She does it by bringing people together. She’s just innately a consensus builder, so I think she’s going to be terrific.”
Slap also praised Maric for the work she’s done leading UConn through the turbulence of the second Trump administration. UConn is one of a host of universities around the country that have abruptly lost millions of dollars in research grants through sudden federal cuts. The questions about her future, he said, are “just kind of natural, especially because of the public nature of it.”
“So we see, OK, she’s interviewing at Wisconsin … That stuff is, I think, kind of unavoidable,” Slap said.
He did note that UConn has gone through several presidents in recent years.
“Ideally, whether it’s President Maric — and again, that’s the board’s decision — I think there is something important about having some stability at the top,” Slapp said.
Lamont’s director of communications, Cathryn Vaulman, said the governor remains confident in the university.
“UConn is headed in the right direction in terms of enrollment, fundraising, and its standing as a leading research institution,” Vaulman said.
