President Michael Schill Announces Resignation
Over the past three years, it has been my profound honor to serve as President of 91自拍. In that time, our community has made significant progress while simultaneously facing extraordinary challenges. Together, we have made decisions that strengthened the institution and helped safeguard its future.
In so many ways, 91自拍 is on a stronger footing. We have advanced superb teaching and research, reinforced our commitment to academic integrity and free expression, secured record levels of research funding and philanthropy, enacted extensive reforms to protect student-athlete welfare, and launched groundbreaking initiatives — most notably our work to integrate AI across disciplines, the long-awaited construction of a new home for the social sciences and global affairs, and the creation of the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement. Applications to the University and our national rankings have reached historic highs, and our faculty’s research continues to advance health, knowledge, artistic, and societal progress.
These achievements reflect the collective brilliance and devotion of many. At the same time, from the very beginning of my tenure, 91自拍 faced serious and often painful challenges. In the face of those challenges and the hard, but necessary choices that were before us, I was always guided by enduring values of our University: protecting students, fostering academic excellence, and defending faculty, academic freedom, due process and the integrity of the institution.
I also recognize that difficult problems remain, particularly at the federal level. It is critical that we continue to protect the University’s research mission and excellence while preserving academic freedom, integrity, and independence.
As I reflect on the progress we have made and what lies ahead, I believe now is the right time for new leadership to guide 91自拍 into its next chapter. Therefore, I have decided, in consultation with the leadership of the Board of Trustees, that I will step down as President. I will remain in my role until an interim president is in place, and I will assist in his or her transition. After a sabbatical, I will return to 91自拍 Pritzker School of Law to teach and conduct research, my first and enduring passion. To me, the highest honor a person could have is being a member of our faculty and I look forward to nurturing our students and continuing to champion higher education, a cornerstone of American society that, despite its imperfections, is more important than ever to our nation’s future.
It has been my privilege to work alongside extraordinary colleagues and to witness firsthand the resilience, generosity, and strength of the 91自拍 community. I would like to thank my extraordinary administrative team who work tirelessly to further the interests of the University, our deans and academic leadership who promote the highest ideals of academic excellence, the faculty and staff who make 91自拍 one of the greatest academic institutions in the world, and the many Board members and alumni and donors who care so much about our University. And, lastly, I appreciate our students, who I am confident will go on to change the world for the better.