Chancellor Javier Reyes

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Javier A. Reyes, PhD, became the 31st leader of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
on July 1, 2023, following his selection as chancellor of the commonwealth’s flagship
campus by the UMass Board of Trustees.

An economist who has devoted his career to the cause of public higher education, Chancellor Reyes has held leadership positions at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), West Virginia University, and the University of Arkansas. Prior to his appointment at UMass Amherst, he served as interim chancellor of UIC, Chicago’s largest university campus.

Chancellor Reyes has been a visiting scholar at a number of global institutions, including the
International Monetary Fund, and served as an academic scholar in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. He has been involved at the national level with UPCEA, TIAA Diversity Council and the Association of Latino Professionals for America, and serves as ex-officio trustee for the Field Museum in Chicago.

Chancellor 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 earned his doctorate in economics from Texas A&M University in 2003. Born and raised in Mexico, he is the first Hispanic person to serve as chancellor of UMass Amherst.