Caroline Genco, Tufts’ provost and senior vice president, has been named the 16th president of the State University of New York at Buffalo and is expected to leave her post at Tufts in August, according to a Tuesday email from University President Sunil Kumar.
“As the daughter of immigrants and the first in my family to attend college, I know firsthand the transformative impact that the SUNY system can have on students, families, and communities,” Genco wrote in a statement attached to Kumar’s email.
Genco, who also serves as a professor in genetics at the Tufts University School of Medicine, was appointed to her current role at the university in August 2023 after serving in an interim capacity since January 2022. She previously served as the chair of the Immunology Department at the Tufts University School of Medicine from 2015 to 2019.
A native of Buffalo, Genco will be the first female president of the University at Buffalo in its 180-year history.
“It is truly an incredible accomplishment that this daughter of immigrants will be returning to her hometown to lead one of the country’s most pre-eminent research institutions on a campus where her mother was once a factory worker,” Kumar wrote.
Details on the search process for Genco’s replacement were not immediately available, though Kumar stated in his email that details would be shared “in due course of time.”
“Our search committee was particularly impressed by Dr. Genco’s prioritization of student and faculty success, her unwavering commitment to integrity and her vision for UB’s bright future,” Jerry Jacobs Jr., chairman of the UB Council and head of the search committee, said in the university’s announcement.
UB’s current president, Satish Tripathi, announced his departure in September after 15 years in the position.
