Satish Udpa

The trustees appointed a top university administrator, Satish Udpa, as the interim leader on Thursday January 17 2019 morning at a hastily scheduled board meeting. Mr. Udpa, 68, is the fourth person to lead the university since January 2018 and is expected to be in the role only temporarily. He told The Detroit Free Press that he was not a candidate for the permanent position, which the board plans to fill by June 2019. Mr. Udpa, who is trained as an engineer, is the former dean of the college of engineering and most recently served as executive vice president for administrative services at Michigan State, overseeing things like human resources and information technology. His wife, Lalita Udpa, is a professor of engineering at Michigan State.