University of Massachusetts trustees tapped Jacqueline Moloney on Monday to lead UMass Lowell. Moloney, the university’s executive vice chancellor, becomes the first woman chancellor in the 121-year history of the campus.
The board, meeting in Boston, elected Moloney in a unanimous vote. Moloney was the only finalist the search committee forwarded to trustees.
“I’m very excited about leading this great institution,” Moloney said.
Moloney, 62, fills an opening created in July when former chancellor Martin Meehan became president of the entire five-campus UMass system. In her current role, she has led UMass Lowell’s long-term master plan and pioneered its online education program.
In 2007, Meehan tapped Moloney, a UMass Lowell graduate, to be executive vice chancellor. She is also a tenured faculty member in the campus’s graduate school of education and has served as dean of its online and continuing education program.
“There has been nothing but unanimous support for her candidacy,” Carol McDonough, an economics professor at UMass Lowell and president of the full-time faculty union, said at the trustees’ meeting. The faculty senate also endorsed Moloney.
Trustees and members of the search committee showered praise on Moloney and described her as someone respected within the university and in the city of Lowell.
“Everyone in the community from baggers and cashiers at Market Basket to businessmen and nonprofit leaders to professional people, everyone in the community has the greatest respect for Jacquie,” said Nancy Donahue, a member of the search committee.
Donahue joked that Moloney gets things done in a “calm, cool, collected way,” a style she contrasted with that of Meehan. He is known to be something of a whirlwind.
Meehan laughed. He said that as UMass president, he would not have recommended anyone for the job who wouldn’t be good for the campus.
During the time Meehan and Moloney ran the campus, the school built new buildings, became more academically selective, and drew record fund-raising and more research funding. Trustees said they want that progress to continue.
They said Moloney has shown that she understands everything from managing university finances to research, student life, and facilities.
“I just think she’s the tops,” trustee Phil Johnston said.
UMass Lowell student trustee Amanda Robinson said Moloney has been a role model to women on campus.
Victor Woolridge, chairman of the UMass board of trustees, praised the search process, which included public forums in Lowell, as open and national, saying that at the end, all signs pointed to Moloney. Search firm Isaacson Miller was hired to help with the search, interviewing 20 potential candidates, and was paid $87,200, UMass Lowell officials said.
Moloney’s salary has not been negotiated. She made $324,940 last year, according to state data. Meehan made $459,000 as Lowell chancellor.
Laura Krantz can be reached at laura.krantz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantz.