I write to inform you of an important leadership transition. R. May Lee, our Vice President of Institutional Impact and Chief Strategy Officer, has informed me of her intention to leave RPI this summer.  Her last day with us will be August 1, 2025.  

May joined RPI in 2019 as an adjunct professor in the School of Architecture, and I appointed her to the senior leadership team as our inaugural strategy officer during my first year as president. The Board of Trustees and I have great respect and appreciation for May who has been an important influence, a trusted colleague and partner, steering us on a clear and promising path as we redefine RPI for our third century. 

I am grateful to May for both her leadership and the significant contributions she has made to RPI. This includes the pivotal role she played in our bicentennial year, working with HR on a change management plan, stepping in as Acting Co-head of the Administration Division, and as chief architect of our strategic plan, RPI Forward, which envisions and sets out how RPI will reshape education and research.

May’s work has touched every part of the institution, challenging each of us to reflect on what it means to be a learning community in service to society’s greatest challenges, and to reimagine how we collaborate, reengineer our structures and modernize our operations to better position RPI for the future. At a time when it mattered most, May demonstrated consistent, principled, and adaptive leadership and helped us navigate through uncertainty and furthered our institutional impact. The foundation she has established in the Strategy Office, the teams and practices she has cultivated across the institute, and the thinking she has inspired will serve us well as we move forward.

We will work with May to ensure a smooth transition, and additional details will be shared soon. Meanwhile, please join me in congratulating May on her exceptional service and extending our sincere wishes for all the best in her future endeavors.