ADVANCEMENT
Ed Ewald, the U. of I. Foundation’s senior vice president for development, has been named acting vice chancellor for advancement at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign effective Feb. 15. “As you know, this is a critical time in the preparation for what will be a record-setting campaign, and we are grateful that someone with Ed’s experience and record of service to the university is ready to assume this important leadership role,” said Interim Chancellor Barb Wilson and U. of I. Foundation President and CEO Jim Moore in announcing Ewald’s appointment in an email to deans and directors.
Ewald has served in a variety of leadership positions during his 23 years with the U. of I., including director of the Brilliant Futures campaign. He has served as the interim vice chancellor for development at UIC, the interim president of the University of Illinois Foundation and, once before, as the interim vice chancellor for institutional advancement of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ewald has a strong reputation for building relationships through collaboration and collegiality.
Planning is underway for a national search for the permanent vice chancellor for advancement, and Ewald will continue as interim until the search is completed. Details of the search process will be announced as soon as they are finalized. Ewald replaces Dan Peterson, who will leave Feb. 29 for a position with the University of Washington. Beginning March 1, Ewald’s title will be interim vice chancellor for advancement.
GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
Lindsay Anderson, a graduate of the Urbana campus and a former high-ranking legislative adviser in the Illinois Capitol, will become executive director for governmental relations for the University of Illinois, pending approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees.
Anderson brings more than a decade of public-policy experience to the role she assumes March 1, leading efforts to advocate for the university’s interests with federal, state and local officials and key higher education associations.
Anderson is an attorney with Chicago-based McGuire Woods, where she advises clients on working with government. She rejoined the law firm in 2013 after four years as legislative director and later senior adviser in the administration of former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. In those roles, she advised the governor and state agencies on legislation, working closely with legislators on both sides of the aisle, and also oversaw the governor’s Office of Federal Relations. Earlier, she served as assistant counsel in the office of House Speaker Michael Madigan and as a mayoral fellow in the office of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Since 2013, she also has chaired two important statewide boards that serve the university and its employees – the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the State Universities Retirement System. She was appointed to the boards by Quinn, and has continued to serve on both under Gov. Bruce Rauner; she will resign from both positions before joining the university.
Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the Urbana campus in 2001 and a law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2005. In 2015, she was an Edgar Fellow, an executive leadership training program developed by former Gov. Jim Edgar and the U. of I. Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Anna Westerstahl Stenport, a professor of Scandinavian studies in the department of Germanic languages and literatures, became the director of the campus Office of Undergraduate Research effective Feb. 16. Stenport replaced professor Paul Diehl, who left the university last summer. Karen Rodriguez’G, associate director of the office, served as interim director during the transition.
Stenport earned her B.A. and M.A. from Uppsala University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her affiliations include Berkeley, Stanford, Queen’s University in Canada, and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. She has been a member of the Illinois faculty since 2005. Presently serving as the director of the European Union Center, she is a Conrad Humanities Professorial Scholar in LAS. Her current research addresses media representations of climate change and the Arctic region.
As the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, Stenport will provide leadership for undergraduate research on the campus, foster opportunities for U. of I. students to have meaningful research experiences, disseminate best practices and support units seeking to develop research programs for students.