University of Alabama President Stuart Bell, who has led the school since 2015, plans to step down this summer, the university said in a statement on Wednesday. (University of Alabama)
University of Alabama President Stuart Bell plans to leave office later this year after about a decade of leading the school.
Bell said in the statement that he felt it was the right time to leave the school and that it was an “honor” to represent the school and expressed gratitude to UA’s Board of Trustees and the students, faculty, staff and alumni of the university.
“Collectively, we have witnessed record-breaking successes and as our university continues its positive trajectory, the moment is right to initiate the completion of my tenure as president,” he said.
Bell became president of the University of Alabama in 2015, succeeding Judy Bonner. A native of Texas, Bell served as an assistant professor of engineering at Alabama from 1986 to 2002, with a focus on combustion engines, according to The Tuscaloosa News. Before becoming president of UA, he served as executive vice president and provost of Louisiana State University and as dean of the University of Kansas’ School of Engineering.
Enrollment at Alabama grew from about 37,000 students when Bell took over in 2015 to just under 41,000 students last fall. The number of Black, Asian and Hispanic students at the school also grew between 2015 and today; the number of Hispanic students at the school more than doubled over the last decade, from 1,440 in the fall of 2015 to 2,914 last fall.
While in-state tuition at the school has increased slightly — from about $10,100 per year in 2015-16, according to al.com, to $11,380 per year in the 2024-25 academic year — out-of-state tuition at Alabama has gone from $25,950 a year in 2015-16 to $33,372 in the current year. Out-of-state students make up about 58% of enrollment, according to the university.
UA’s endowment passed $1 billion in 2021, according to the Crimson White, and stood at about $1.2 billion in 2023.
The statement from the University of Alabama also highlighted new campus construction and renovation on campus during Bell’s tenure as well as increases in funded research at the school.
The University of Alabama said in its statement Wednesday it would start “a comprehensive national search” for the next president of the university.
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