Javier Reyes
Dr. Javier Reyes will lead the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) as interim chancellor, effective July 1, 2022. UIC is Chicago’s largest and only public Carnegie Research 1 university with 16 top-ranked colleges and an academic health enterprise, the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health). Interim Chancellor Reyes is committed to expanding upon UIC’s inclusive campus culture, pioneering spirit, and realizing the vision to transform the world through eliminating disparities in economic opportunities, health and education. He sees UIC as “a dynamic national leader in higher education with tremendous impact as a world-class research university that is home to a culturally rich and diverse student body.”
Prior to his service as interim chancellor, Dr. Reyes became provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UIC Aug. 16, 2021. In this role, he served as UIC’s chief academic officer to advise on matters of academic policy, strategic direction, enrollment management and academic resource planning. Since coming aboard as provost, UIC experienced recording-breaking fall 2021 enrollment of more than 34,000 students and has maintained the upward trajectory of admitted students, with more than 18,000 new students admitted for fall 2022 —putting UIC on track for another record-breaking fall enrollment.
Before joining UIC, Reyes served as West Virginia University’s Milan Puskar Dean of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics from 2016-2021 and vice president for StartUp West Virginia from 2018-2021. Under his leadership, the College of Business was named by former Cisco Systems CEO and alumnus John Chambers and focused on the growth of entrepreneurship, innovation and experiential learning, with an emphasis on synergies with engineering and the health sciences. Reyes built impactful corporate partnerships to strengthen student placement and serve West Virginia’s land-grant mission. Furthermore, he spearheaded the transformation of the college into a pillar of inclusive entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development for the university and the state. As the vice president for StartUp West Virginia, he worked closely with state partners and private industry to grow West Virginia’s startup network and expand avenues for economic and business development. His efforts included the launching of Vantage Ventures at WVU, the attraction of companies like DataRobot to have a presence in West Virginia, and the launching of programs like Ascend WV —an innovative cohort-based remote worker program in three different cities of West Virginia. Reyes received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Estado de Mexico, in 1998, and his doctorate in economics from Texas A&M University in 2003.
