On May 18, 2006, Dr. Elsa Nuñez, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs of the University of Maine System, was unanimously elected by the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut State University System as the sixth president of Eastern Connecticut State University. She assumed the Office of the President on August 4, 2006. Dr. Nuñez is the first Latina president of a Connecticut state university. She succeeded Executive Vice President Michael Pernal, who was Eastern’s interim president from January–August 2006. Pernal succeeded David G. Carter, who served as president of Eastern for nearly 18 years before being appointed chancellor of the Connecticut State University System in December 2005.

As vice chancellor at the University of Maine System from 2003–2006, Dr. Nuñez oversaw all academic matters related to the System’s seven universities. Her responsibilities included new program approval, faculty reappointments, promotion, tenure, and academic and student policies. (more ...)