U of M President Eric Kaler to speak at Rotary Club of Burnsville luncheon Oct. 31

University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler will address the Rotary Club of Burnsville monthly luncheon at noon Monday, Oct. 31, at the Nicollet Inn, 14201 Nicollet Ave. Burnsville. The Burnsville, Eagan, Apple Valley Rotary clubs and the Dakota County Chamber of Commerce are co-hosting the event.

Kaler will provide an update on his first four months as president and discuss his vision and priorities for the university, in research, teaching and outreach.

Kaler is the 16th president of the university and comes from Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, where he was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Inaugurated on Thursday, Sept. 22, Kaler is the second university alumnus to serve as president of Minnesota’s land-grant and research university.

Appointed as the ninth provost of Stony Brook in October 2007, Kaler received his undergraduate degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1978 and his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1982.

Prior to his appointment at Stony Brook, Kaler was a member of the faculty of the University of Delaware from 1989 to 2007. He served as chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 1996 to 2000 and dean of the College of Engineering from 2000 to 2007. He was an assistant professor and an associate professor of chemical engineering at the University of Washington from 1982 to 1989.