Board of Trustees outlines chancellor search timeline, says committee named by Sept. 19
SU’s Board of Trustees named Shelly Fisher and Lisa Fontenelli as co-chairs for the chancellor search committee, according to a campus-wide email. Committee membership will be announced, and a website will be up by Sept. 19. Ike Wood | Asst. Photo Editor
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UPDATE: This story was updated at 9:13 p.m. on September 8, 2025.
Syracuse University’s Board of Trustees named two co-chairs for the committee that will lead the chancellor search weeks after Chancellor Kent Syverud announced he would step down.
Shelly Fisher and Lisa Fontenelli will lead the committee, according to a Monday campus-wide email from Board Chairman Jeff Scruggs. Both Fisher and Fontenelli are members of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and have previously chaired other trustee committees, according to the email.
Fontenelli is a 1986 SU graduate. She served as chair of the Whitman School of Management Advisory Council and spent over three decades at Goldman Sachs, according to a 2024 release. She also worked for the bank’s global investment research division and was named a Goldman partner in 2006.
She also holds multiple honorary degrees, including an honorary doctorate of business administration from Georgian Court University, where she served as a trustee for 12 years. She received the honors for her philanthropic support of the Sisters of Mercy, according to the release.
Fisher is a 1980 alumna of the Newhouse School of Public Communications and served on the Newhouse Advisory Board, according to a 2020 release. Fisher founded various nonprofits, including Herb It Forward Foundation and the Philly Service Award. She created the Herbert Lotman Book Award and is involved with the Forever Orange campaign at SU.
Scruggs said the board expects to name the committee’s membership by Sept. 19 and subsequently begin the official search process.
“We are currently working through the shared governance structures to determine the full makeup of the search committee,” Scruggs wrote.
On Aug. 26, Syverud announced his intended departure from the role at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. Syverud, who was appointed to the position in 2013, said the board had begun a search for his replacement in the announcement.
Last week, Syverud proposed that Provost and Vice Chancellor Lois Agnew remain in her position while the committee searches for his successor.
Scruggs wrote that community input is “essential to this process,” echoing the same sentiment in Syverud’s announcement. The board plans to host in-person and virtual engagement sessions throughout its search.
The board is finalizing a session schedule and will release further details next week, the email states.
Scruggs outlined a broad timeline for the search, naming a handful of deadlines for this semester. A position profile will be completed in October, according to the email. The Sept. 19 date was also given for a “Chancellor Search” website, which will be updated with information about search committee members, engagement sessions and a survey.
“Selecting our next chancellor is a critical and exciting moment for Syracuse University,” Scruggs wrote. “Thank you in advance for your engagement and support throughout this process.
