Regent Katherine E. White will succeed Regent Sarah Hubbard as chair of the Board of Regents beginning July 1. Regent Mark Bernstein will serve as vice chair.
The leadership changes were announced at the June 20 board meeting. White and Bernstein will serve in their new roles through June 30, 2025.
White, the current vice chair, was first elected to the board in 1998 and reelected in 2006, 2014 and 2022. Bernstein was first elected to the board in 2012 and was reelected in 2020. White and Bernstein are both Democrats from Ann Arbor, and Hubbard is a Republican from Okemos.
According to the Regents’ Bylaws, the positions of chair and vice chair are filled based on seniority and rotate through the board. A regent who serves as vice chair automatically moves to the position of chair the following year.
The chair’s primary duties include working with the vice chair, president and board secretary to help set the major topics for presentation or study by the board; monitoring committee agenda planning for coordination and comprehensiveness; presiding over executive sessions when scheduled without the president; communicating certain information to other regents; and appointing the chairs and members of ad hoc and standing committees.
If the chair is unable to perform the duties, the vice chair assumes them.
