by Amanda Bertholf // Spring 2012

Newly appointed president of the University of Missouri System, Timothy Wolfe, wrapped up a tour of the four UM campuses with a visit to UMKC in December.  Wolfe toured the Volker and Hospital Hill campuses, and joined faculty, staff and students at a reception at the UMKC Student Union. Guests representing UMKC and the Kansas City community presented Wolfe with tokens of welcome, including a framed Kangaroo watercolor by local artist Tom Corbin, season tickets to the Kansas City Repertory Theatre and two CDs from Conservatory Professor Bobby Watson.

During the program, Wolfe expressed commitment to tackling the challenges facing the UM System and higher education, and he emphasized his belief that opportunities in the works and on the horizon outweigh those challenges. He pointed to UMKC as an example of opportunity, noting the university’s designation as the UM System’s flagship campus for the visual and performing arts and its global reputation as a leader in entrepreneurism and innovation. “What this city and UMKC are working to build is awe-inspiring,” Wolfe says. “With the intellectual prowess of UMKC, this city is destined to be the global epicenter of entrepreneurism and creativity.”

Wolfe is an alumnus of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in personnel management in 1980. He is an executive with more than 30 years experience in information technology, infrastructure software, consulting and sales leadership. His career started at IBM Corporation in Missouri, first as a sales representative in Jefferson City then as a manager in Kansas City. From there he worked at Covansys, a consulting and technology services company. Prior to joining the UM System, he served at Novell as president of the Americas.