Chancellor Charles Nies has been on the job at the University of Minnesota-Duluth since July 1.

He came to UMD via the University of California-Merced and will serve as Duluth’s 10th chancellor. In the last three weeks, he’s been meeting with local leaders, the mayor, and faculty and staff.

“I’m excited because in a month, our students will be back and an opportunity to start meeting some of the scholars at the institution as well,” Nies said. “So it’s an exciting time.”

When he’s not steering the Bulldog community, he told The Lift he enjoys theater, cooking, sports, and hiking.

Nies also has many Minnesota connections having been born in Hutchinson, graduated from Hutchinson High School, and attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. His mom, two brothers, and extended family also live in Minnesota.

“I remember our parents let us go into Lake Superior to see how long we could sit in the water before it was too cold,” Nies said.

He feels UMD is a good size to build a strong community and puts an emphasis on discovery through untraditional classrooms.

“We do a lot of really strong focus on student success. And so you’ll see that in our graduation rate,” Dr. Nies said. “Students that come to our campus graduate. And that’s a really important piece.”

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