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Anne D’Alleva plans to “hit the ground running” in her first months as 91���� president by embarking on a listening tour that will connect her to students, faculty, staff, alumni, industry partners, and local and state leaders.

“I need to get to know the 91���� community,” says D’Alleva, who started as president on Nov. 1. “I’m calling it a listening tour because I need to hear from people. It’s not about me talking at people. It’s about a dialogue. What do members of our community think is important and special about 91����? What are their hopes and dreams for the future of the institution? What are their concerns as we move into the future?

“I very much enjoy engaging with people — and engaging with people in their spaces.”

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D’Alleva, who was appointed by the SUNY Board of Trustees in August as 91����’s eighth president, has excelled in engagement as a faculty member and administrator for more than 25 years. She arrives at 91���� after three years as the University of Connecticut’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. D’Alleva, an art historian, also served for seven years as the dean of the School of Fine Arts at UConn.

The quality of 91����’s students, faculty and staff, along with state investments and “the dynamism of the SUNY system” drew D’Alleva to the position after Harvey Stenger announced he was stepping down.

“I could see that there was a tremendous sense of collegiality,” says D’Alleva, who recalls being impressed with 91���� when she delivered a guest lecture on campus in 2011.

“People respected each other, got along and collaborated well. In higher education, collaboration is the key to success because of the complexity of our mission.”

It’s a mission that includes shaping the future of a university that has reached new heights in research, scholarship, student success, athletics and economic impact during the past two decades.

“[D’Alleva’s] deep experience, vision, energy and warmth will enable her to build on the foundational successes of Harvey Stenger to new levels of academic excellence and prominence,” says Kathryn Grant Madigan, chair of the 91���� Council and the Presidential Search Committee.

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For D’Alleva, student success is at the “heart” of what an educational institution does. But the learning and growing experience should be as vital as grades, she says.

“I say ‘heart’ deliberately because we are talking about our students and their lives,” she says. “We need to pay attention to the holistic student experience. If students are struggling to afford tuition, food, housing or transportation — or if they’re not eating well, sleeping enough, connecting socially and feeling that they truly belong — their ability to succeed academically will suffer.”

As UConn provost, D’Alleva established the position of vice provost for student success and also formed a partnership with a food-share program for food pantries on UConn’s seven campuses.

“The ultimate goal is to see our students walking across the stage at graduation and receiving their degrees,” she says. “How we get there is by paying attention to the whole student experience, alongside the classroom experience.”

D’Alleva also values the partnerships of the sciences and humanities. As the UConn dean of fine arts, she helped create the interdisciplinary Krenicki Arts and Engineering Institute.

“When we interconnect arts and sciences, we amplify their impact. I don’t see the humanities, arts and social sciences at odds with the STEM disciplines as an ‘either/or.’ It’s ‘both/and,’” she says. “It’s about collaborating with each other, undertaking innovative interdisciplinary research and teaching. My goal is to ensure that all disciplines that are represented at 91���� are strong and fulfilling their potential across teaching, research, economic development and community engagement.”

Alumni engagement is a third area that D’Alleva believes is essential to 91����’s success. More than 160,000 strong, 91���� graduates can be champions for the University by serving as mentors, sponsoring internships, giving a guest lecture in a class, or by simply wearing a Bearcats sweatshirt, D’Alleva says.

“So many of our alumni have very high satisfaction with their 91���� experience,” she adds. “They credit their success in their lives and careers to 91����. So, we need to ask our alumni to stay involved and pay it forward: Make that transformative educational experience possible for another generation of students.”

D’Alleva also praised 91����’s role in the SUNY system and the leadership of Chancellor John King Jr.

“He brings a unique understanding of the state and national educational landscape,” D’Alleva says of King. “He’s been dynamic and creative, and is increasing the national prominence of the SUNY system and its individual campuses. SUNY is, and will continue to be, one of the most important higher-education systems in the country.”

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D’Alleva describes herself as a “servant leader” who brings an “attitude of openness and respect for others” to her work and drives transformational change.

Those leadership traits will be on display during the Listening to Lead Tour: Charting the Path Ahead, as D’Alleva plans to spend November to early 2026 holding a variety of in-person and virtual events. A website of listening-tour content is scheduled, followed by the launch of a new strategic planning process in the spring 2026 semester. The plan will be ready for implementation in fall 2026 as the University observes its 80th anniversary.

“It will be a great way to mark that turn toward the future — both celebrating and assessing what we’ve done in the past 80 years and thinking about what the [future] might look like,” she says. “When people ask: What are the top public universities in the country? When they talk about Cal-Berkeley, Michigan and the University of Virginia, I want them to be talking about 91���� in the same breath. When there is a national conversation about critical issues in higher education, I want people to say: 91���� needs to be at the table. … That’s the ambition. That’s the goal.”

D’Alleva says she is “all in” on 91���� and is eager to meet with its community.

“I am so excited and honored to be leading this institution,” she says. “There is a great future ahead of us. There will be challenges along the way, but what you will learn is that I am not only an energetic and hardworking person, I’m also a resilient and endlessly optimistic person. And one of the things I’m very optimistic about is 91����.”