Dr. John F. Carney III was formally introduced as UMR’s chancellor Friday, Sept. 2, during a news conference held in the Havener Center.

University of Missouri President Elson S. Floyd and UMR Student Council President Jeremiah King welcomed Carney and his wife Pat with freshly minted 2005 St. Pat’s sweatshirts during the news conference. Carney then addressed the overflow crowd in the Carver-Turner Room of the Havener Center, joking about his lifelong love for the Boston Red Sox and calling UMR "one of the few true technological universities in the nation."

Audio of this news conference available here.

Carney also spoke of a "national crisis" in higher education, alluding to the low numbers of students interested in – or qualified to study – science and engineering.

Carney, the former provost and vice president for academic affairs at Worcester Polytechnic University in Worcester, Mass., was named UMR chancellor in March. He succeeds Dr. Gary Thomas, who served as chancellor for five years.

UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III, left, is congratulated by Dr. William Schonberg, chair of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, following the news conference.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. (1963), and a master’s degree (1964) and Ph.D. (1966) in civil engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Carney began his academic career in 1966 as a member of the University of Connecticut’s civil engineering faculty. In 1981, he joined Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., as professor and head of the civil engineering department. In 1983, he joined Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., as a professor of civil engineering and served as associate dean for graduate affairs (1989-1993) and then associate dean for research and graduate affairs (1993-1996). Carney served as WPI’s provost from 1996 to 2004.