Chancellor Taps UB Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi to Become Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi is slated to become the second-ranking administrator in SUNY, pending approval by the Board of Trustees at a meeting in December.

Chancellor Robert L. King will recommend to the board that Capaldi be named vice chancellor and his chief of staff.

In that post, Capaldi will be responsible for managing and coordinating numerous central administration functions, among them legal, audit, state government relations, press relations, community colleges, and business and industry relations. She will be in charge of system strategic-plan implementation, and act as liaison to the State University Construction Fund.

She also will serve as King's "troubleshooter" in dealing with specific campus issues and will advise the chancellor on important matters brought to her attention by the campus presidents and senior officers. She will be Officer-in-Charge when King is away from Albany.

Capaldi will be responsible for strengthening coordination among the SUNY vice chancellors "so that we can maximize the value of increased communication and new linkages among the many departments that make up the system administration," King said in a memo announcing his recommendation of Capaldi for the appointment. For example, this will include bringing together all components of the university as part of the next mission-review effort and "highlighting our focus on quality and excellence in all we do."

"Betty's knowledge of the state university and experience from a campus perspective will provide me the flexibility to add to these responsibilities as she becomes familiar with the workings of my administration," King said.

Capaldi said she is looking forward to working in Albany.

"I am thrilled and excited about my new job in SUNY, but of course will miss UB and Buffalo," she said. "However, I can and will still help the university in my new job. After all, UB is the largest university in SUNY and critical to SUNY's and New York's success."

Capaldi is expected to begin work in Albany in the coming months, while also providing assistance to the new UB president. The Board of Trustees is expected to approve on Tuesday King's recommendation that John B. Simpson be named the 14th president of UB.

UB provost since July 2000, Capaldi is the first woman to hold that post and is the highest-ranking woman in the history of UB. Before coming to UB, she was provost at the University of Florida in Gainesville.