Paula G. Allen-Meares (born 1948) is an American academic who served as the chancellor of the

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

from 2009 to 2015. She has a background in social work. Allen-Meares was raised in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. She completed her undergraduate education at

SUNY Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

, and then undertook postgraduate studies in social work at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

(UIUC). While completing her doctorate, she worked for the

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is the code department of the Illinois state government responsible for child protective services. , Marc Smith is the acting Director of Children and Family Services. The DCFS Offic ...

. She joined the UIUC faculty in 1975, and in 1990 was made dean of the

School of Social Work A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

. In 1993, Allen-Meares joined the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

as dean of the

. She also chair of the University Health Sciences Council. During her tenure, the School of Social Work's endowment increased from $1 million to $42.3 million. Allen-Meares's appointment as chancellor of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) was announced in June 2008, and her term commenced in January 2009. As chancellor, she successfully lobbied for UIC to host the

Barack Obama Presidential Center The Barack Obama Presidential Center is a planned architectural project in Chicago to commemorate the presidency of Barack Obama, the List of Presidents of the United States, 44th President of the United States, president of the United States. Th ...

. Allen-Meares's initial five-year term was extended to January 2015, but not renewed thereafter; in August 2014, the UIC faculty senate had passed a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

44–9. She received an exit bonus of $98,440 on top of a $437,244 annual salary, which was criticized by faculty representatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen-Meares, Paula 1948 births Living people African-American academics American academic administrators American social workers Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Leaders of the University of Illinois People from Buffalo, New York University at Buffalo alumni University of Illinois School of Social Work alumni University of Michigan faculty Women heads of universities and colleges 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Members of the National Academy of Medicine

See also

References