CHAMPAIGN, IL (Chambana Today) – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones has announced that he will step down at the end of June 2025.
Jones shared the news in a letter to faculty, students, and staff earlier today. He will also be leaving his role as vice president of the University of Illinois System, according to UI System President Tim Killeen. Killeen has asked Jones to continue working on strategic initiatives after his official departure. Jones says he will work closely with campus leadership and the university system to help find his replacement with the right qualifications. Jones will be the second longest-serving chancellor at UIUC.
In the letter, Killeen touched on the key accomplishments Jones will leave as his legacy. “From his first day on campus, Chancellor Jones has been relentlessly committed to delivering excellence at scale, and with him at the helm, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has done just that through its expanded enrollment, through its commitment to growing its world-class faculty and through research that is helping meet the challenges of our time — feeding a growing global population, creating a sustainable economy and building the kind of just and equitable society we need.”
Here are some of the key highlights of Jones accomplishments:
- 2024-2025 record enrollment of over 59,000 students
- The launch of Illinois Commitment for state residents whose family income is under $75,000
- UIUC’s development of a rapid saliva-based COVID-19 test during the pandemic
- Partnerships with other academic institutions and the state of Illinois to advance the state’s science and technology sectors.
Jones admitted being at the helm hasn’t always been easy. “We have endured the worst budget crisis in our state’s history. We navigated the worst global health crisis in living memory. We have shared the intense pain, sorrow and suffering that are the inevitable prices of inequity, injustice and war. But it has been in these most difficult moments when I have gotten to see the strength of character of the students, faculty and staff who choose to call this university their home.”