UMass Amherst to Inaugurate Chancellor Javier Reyes as University’s 31st Leader on Friday, April 26 in Mullins Center Ceremony

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The University of Massachusetts Amherst will celebrate the inauguration of Chancellor Javier Reyes, the university’s 31st leader, on Friday, April 26. The public is invited to attend the inauguration ceremony, which starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Mullins Center. 

Registration to attend can be completed on the university’s inauguration website. The ceremony will also be livestreamed on the inauguration website. 

Media representatives should contact the Office of News and Media Relations in advance at scoop@umass.edu to secure press credentials. The press credentials will be required to access media parking, which will be available in Lot 67 (west side of the Mullins Center) by following Mullins Way off North Hadley Road. Media representatives should enter the Mullins Center through the Loading Dock at the Southwest corner (nearest the recreation fields).

Featured speakers at the investiture ceremony will include Gov. Maura Healey, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, UMass Board of Trustees Chair Stephen Karam and UMass President Marty Meehan. Imani Wallace, a doctoral student in the College of Education and spoken word artist who performs as Lyrical Faith, will recite an original poem written especially for the occasion.

The inauguration celebrates the start of a new era of leadership at the commonwealth’s flagship campus. Reyes, who assumed his duties as chancellor on July 1, 2023, brings a student-centric vision of success and is ready to propel UMass forward as a powerful economic engine at the forefront of higher education. An economist who has devoted his career to the cause of public higher education, 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. A video portrait and detailed biography of the chancellor can be viewed on the inauguration website.

The inauguration festivities will coincide over the course of four days, from April 26-29, with the 150th anniversary of the Alumni Association, football’s annual Spring Game, and UMass Founders Day, a campuswide celebration of UMass pride and the diverse experiences and perspectives essential to excellence and innovation on campus. Alumni, members of the campus community and the general public are encouraged to connect and celebrate as the university embarks on a new chapter in the history of UMass Amherst.