On July 1, Joan T.A. Gabel became the University of Minnesota’s 17th President. Gabel is the first woman in the University’s 167-year history to hold its highest office. Inauguration Day will be held Sept. 20 for invited guests, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Board of Regents, and the president’s family. The ceremony will be broadcast live online.
Since 2015, Gabel served as the executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina. Previously, she served as dean of the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business for five years. While at Missouri, Gabel was named a “shining star” by the Wall Street Journal.
Before joining the University of Missouri, she served as the DeSantis Professor and chair of the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate & Legal Studies at Florida State University’s College of Business. She was also director of international relations for the College of Business, and served on the faculty of the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University for 11 years.
Gabel earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Haverford College in Pennsylvania and her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia.