CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Jeff Christensen, deputy chief of police and assistant director of public safety at the University of Illinois, temporarily will assume the department’s top leadership position starting Feb. 10.
Christensen will serve as acting director until March 3, when he will become interim director with the official departure of outgoing Chief Barbara O’Connor. O’Connor, who joined the department in 2009, announced in December she had been hired to lead the University of Connecticut’s public safety department.
A longtime member of the U. of I. Police, Christensen started his service as a student as one of the campus’s first student-patrol supervisors. He was hired by the department in 1985, moving through the ranks until his current assistant chief appointment in 2009. As a lieutenant in 1998, Christensen was a winner of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award.
It’s not the first time Christensen has served in an interim chief capacity. He was interim chief from 2007-09 during the search that would eventually identify O’Connor for the top post.
Champaign-Urbana Chancellor and Vice President Phyllis Wise said the university is fortunate to have “such a dedicated professional” serving as interim chief as officials conduct a national search for O’Connor’s replacement.
“Jeff has been associated with the U. of I. Police Department since his days as a student here and already is familiar with the unique demands placed on campus police,” Wise said. “His appointment to the interim position will maintain our high expectations for campus safety.”
Associate Chancellor Michael DeLorenzo said the search for a new chief and public safety director will be led by the Hollins Group, the consulting firm that advised the university in its search for O’Connor in 2008. He said officials are hopeful the process can be completed by spring.
“They already are familiar with the institution and position,” DeLorenzo said. “The search process will be a national search so that we can generate a large and diverse pool of candidates.”
