Natalie Braswell has been selected to serve as interim chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system.
In this role, Braswell will provide strategic leadership, operational stability, and effective governance for Connecticut’s public higher education system, which encompasses 16 campuses and 17 million square feet of facilities statewide. She will serve as interim chancellor for one year while the system searches for its next permanent leader.
Braswell comes to her new appointment with extensive leadership experience in state government. For the past three years, she has served as general counsel to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. Before her current role, she served as Connecticut’s state comptroller. Braswell has also served as chief of planning, legal, and regulatory affairs at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Within academia, Braswell has experience teaching legal practice as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut.
“Our colleges and universities are essential engines of opportunity, workforce development, economic growth, and social mobility for students and families across our state. This is a moment that calls for steady leadership, accountability, and a clear focus on moving forward,” said Braswell. “Over the next year, my focus will be on strengthening trust across the system, ensuring transparency and accountability, and keeping our attention where it belongs: on creating opportunity and success for our students.”
Braswell earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, her master of public administration degree, and her juris doctorate, all from the University of Connecticut.