Mary Sue Coleman has been named the next president of the Association of American Universities. The association represents 60 research universities in the United States and two in Canada. Member institutions confer nearly one half of all doctoral degrees awarded in the United States. The association focuses on issues of research and research funding.
Dr. Coleman stepped down as president of the University of Michigan in 2014. She is co-chair of the Lincoln Project, an initiative of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences that supports U.S. research universities.
Before becoming president of the University of Michigan in 2002, Dr. Coleman served as president of the University of Iowa for seven years. Earlier, she was provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico and vice chancellor for research and graduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She taught biochemistry at the University of Kentucky for 19 years.
A graduate of Grinnell College in Iowa, Dr. Coleman earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.