SPRINGFIELD, Mass.
Former Clark Atlanta University president Thomas Cole Jr. is set to take over the UMass-Amherst campus for the next year, replacing a chancellor who left the school at odds with its administrators.
The board of trustees was expected to approve Cole’s appointment as interim chancellor of the flagship campus at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, trustee chairman Stephen Tocco said Tuesday.
“We’re thrilled to have him,” Tocco said.
Cole, 66, led Clark Atlanta from 1989 until his retirement in 2002, when he was named president emeritus.
Tocco said Cole is a good fit to help the Amherst campus boost its fundraising, oversee several building projects and bolster the school’s faculty. Cole will not be a candidate for a permanent chancellor, and is expected to serve for about a year, Tocco said.
