UConn Vice President Mary Holz-Clause’s announcement last week that she’s leaving her post this spring as UConn’s first economic development officer to return to the classroom surprised many.
But there was a bit more to the timing of her voluntary departure from a job that UConn President Susan B. Herbst once pegged as vital to the future of both the flagship state university and Connecticut’s economy.
According to PalmBeachPost.com, one month before declaring that April 30 would be her last as Herbst’s economic development lieutenant, Holz-Clause was one of 10 candidates bidding to become Florida Atlantic University’s next president after a stadium-naming flap engulfed its previous chief. Former Clemson University administrator John Kelly ultimately won the job.
State-supported Florida Atlantic’s 28,000 student enrollment is slightly more than UConn’s 25,000.
Through a spokeswoman, UConn says it was aware that Holz-Clause was a candidate for the FAU post. However, it denies that her FAU candidacy and her transition back to the Storrs classroom are related.
Holz-Clause didn’t respond to a request for comment. In her new role, Holz-Clause will be resuming her UConn teaching duties fulltime and serve as an assistant dean in the school’s agriculture-natural resources college.
Provost Mun Choi and UConn research vice president Jeffrey Seemann will split Holz-Clause’s duties, including development of the UConn Technology Park and its technology incubation program, as well as efforts to patent and commercialize university research.
— Gregory Seay
