Photos—Melissa L. Gilliam Welcomed as BU’s 11th President
“Thank you for the tremendous honor,” she tells enthusiastic audience in her first address to the BU community
Boston University leaders introduced Melissa L. Gilliam as the University’s 11th president at an event in the Tsai Performance Center on Wednesday. “It is difficult to express my joy and gratitude for this opportunity to join Boston University’s extraordinary global community,” she told a crowd both in person and watching live from around the world.
Photos—Melissa L. Gilliam Welcomed as BU’s 11th President
“Thank you for the tremendous honor,” she tells enthusiastic audience in her first address to the BU community
Melissa L. Gilliam, Boston University’s president-elect, took the stage at the Tsai Performance Center to thunderous applause on Wednesday, during the event introducing her to students, faculty, staff, and alumni as the University’s 11th president.
“I’ve had the privilege of being part of the world’s great institutions,” she said in her remarks, which were also live-streamed (watch the event here). “Through higher education, I’ve had the opportunity to be a student, a faculty member, an administrator, a provost, and now a president. And it is difficult to express my joy and gratitude for this opportunity to join Boston University’s extraordinary global community.”
Recognizing the chair of the BU Board of Trustees, Ahmass Fakahany (Questrom’79), Presidential Search Committee members, Kenneth Freeman, BU president ad interim, as well as the many students, faculty, and staff she’s met over the past few months, a beaming Gillliam addressed the audience: “Thank you for the tremendous honor of being selected as the 11th president of Boston University.”
Melissa Gilliam’s parents were both role models for her, she said Wednesday to the audience at the Tsai Performance Center. Her mother, Dorothy Gilliam, was the first Black woman reporter at the Washington Post. Her late father, Sam Gilliam, was a pioneering abstract painter. “My parents, by word and by deed, taught me the value in education, and they instilled in me an unwavering confidence in human potential,” she said. “I’ve watched them pave the way for others, and I, too, share that commitment. Their example has led me to the core belief that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not.”
Kenneth Freeman, BU interim president, will continue in the role until Gilliam starts in July, helping her transition to the new role during the spring. “As president ad interim, I look forward to continuing to advance the institution while we prepare for the arrival of the president-elect, helping to build upon the University’s magnificent momentum,” Freeman said. “Boston University has a very bright future, and I am confident that our next president will take the institution to even greater heights.”
Ahmass Fakahany (Questrom’79), chair of the BU Board of Trustees, introduced Gilliam. “When we talk of students, her face shines with excitement and pride,” Fakahany said. “It’s clear to us that students, with their idealism, enthusiasm, and aspirations, inspire her to work, to lead, to listen.”
A 16-person Presidential Search Committee, chaired by University trustee Antoinette “Tonie” Leatherberry (ENG’85), spearheaded the yearlong search for BU’s next president. “It has been my honor and pleasure to get to know our next president, who is highly accomplished, and whose work is informed by intellect, research excellence, empathy, and great humanity,” Leatherberry said
Ahmass Fakahany (Questrom’79), chair of the BU Board of Trustees, introduced Gilliam. “When we talk of students, her face shines with excitement and pride,” Fakahany said. “It’s clear to us that students, with their idealism, enthusiasm, and aspirations, inspire her to work, to lead, to listen.”
A 16-person Presidential Search Committee, chaired by University trustee Antoinette “Tonie” Leatherberry (ENG’85), spearheaded the yearlong search for BU’s next president. “It has been my honor and pleasure to get to know our next president, who is highly accomplished, and whose work is informed by intellect, research excellence, empathy, and great humanity,” Leatherberry said.
Gilliam thanked her family, including her two sisters, Stephanie Gilliam and Leah Franklin Gilliam, her stepmother, Annie Gawlak, her children, Ben and Eve Grobman, and her husband, Bill Grobman, as well as her friends and colleagues at The Ohio State University and the University of Chicago, for their support.
A distinguished educator, scholar, research scientist, and physician, Gilliam will assume her new role on July 1, 2024. She comes to BU from The Ohio State University, where she has been executive vice president and provost. She thanked her friends and colleagues there and at the University of Chicago—where she taught prior to Ohio State University—as well as the leaders who came before her at BU, including Robert A. Brown, University president through July 2023, who sat in the front row.
Gilliam’s appointment marks the conclusion of a yearlong search, led by the 16-person Presidential Search Committee. University trustee Antoinette “Tonie” Leatherberry (ENG’85) helmed the committee and at the event Wednesday expressed her pride and gratitude for its hard work.
“As a result of the collective leadership of this search committee, the process executed was thoughtful, rigorous, and intentional,” Leatherberry said, adding that the trustees, faculty, and staff comprising the committee “represent the standard of excellence Boston University is well known for.”
Gilliam shares a moment with Jason Campbell-Foster, who recently assumed his new role as dean of students, during the Wednesday reception. Campbell-Foster and a select group of students offered insight during the presidential search process.
Members of BU’s student government met with Gilliam on the Alpert Mall after the new president was introduced. “Two decades of working with young people guides my deep commitment to their health, their development, their well-being, but also their wisdom,” she said during the announcement event earlier.
Gilliam with Jason Campbell-Foster, who recently assumed his new role as dean of students, during the Wednesday reception. Campbell-Foster and a select group of students offered insight during the presidential search process
Members of BU’s student government met with Gilliam on the Alpert Mall after the new president was introduced. “Two decades of working with young people guides my deep commitment to their health, their development, their well-being, but also their wisdom,” she said during the announcement event earlier.
Introducing Gilliam, Fakahany touted her academic rigor and collaborative leadership style as well as her obvious love for the work and the students, faculty, and staff with whom she does that work.
“What is important, and what I want to share with you in addition to her keen intellect, is her heart and character,” Fakahany said. “Without heart—and that extra level of personal conviction and inner moral compass, everything else becomes merely transactional.”
After the Tsai Center event, members of the BU community spilled onto the Warren Alpert Mall, under warm and sunny skies, to celebrate the momentous occasion.
Three BU presidents, former, current, and future, were on campus for the announcement and reception. Robert A. Brown, who served 18 years and stepped down over the summer, and Kenneth Freeman, BU president ad interim since Brown’s departure, welcomed Gilliam to the University.
Gilliam, with Judy Platt, executive director of Student Health Services, is an MD and trained as a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of pediatrics, whose scholarship focuses on developing interventions to promote adolescent health and well-being.
Three BU presidents, former, current, and future, were on campus for the announcement and reception. Robert A. Brown (center left), who served 18 years and stepped down over the summer, and Kenneth Freeman (center right), BU president ad interim since Brown’s departure, welcomed Gilliam to the University.
Gilliam, with Judy Platt, executive director of Student Health Services, is an MD and trained as a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of pediatrics, whose scholarship focuses on developing interventions to promote adolescent health and well-being.
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