About President Cunningham
President Cunningham posing for a picture wearing a dark blue coat and glasses.

Dr. Rebecca Cunningham began her appointment as the 18th President of the University of Minnesota System on July 1, 2024.

As President, Dr. Cunningham is committed to working closely with the U of M community and Minnesotans broadly to shape a strong vision for the five-campus system and execute innovative strategies that achieve excellence in fulfilling the University’s three-part, land-grant mission of teaching, research, and outreach. President Cunningham also has a faculty appointment in the School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Dr. Cunningham most recently served as the Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Michigan, where she was responsible for fostering excellence and upholding the institution’s public mission in research, scholarship, and creative practice across three campuses and a health system.

During her leadership tenure, the University of Michigan expanded its annual research portfolio to a record $1.86 billion. Dr. Cunningham also led the design and implementation of the first comprehensive review of the University of Michigan’s research, scholarship, and creative practice enterprise—a collaborative strategy aimed to bolster discovery and impact, accelerate knowledge translation, support entrepreneurial activity, expand statewide economic development, advance undergraduate student success, and strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Dr. Cunningham joined the University of Michigan in 1999 as an emergency medicine physician, with faculty appointments in the Medical School and the School of Public Health. Over the course of her career, her research has focused on public health and injury and violence prevention, with scientific collaborations that span engineering, communications, transportation, and public policy. In 2019, Dr. Cunningham was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. And in 2023, Crain’s Detroit Business recognized Dr. Cunningham as a “Notable Leader in Higher Education.”

Dr. Cunningham holds a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University and a medical doctorate from Jefferson Medical College. She completed her residency in emergency medicine at the University of Michigan Health System and a postdoctoral research fellowship with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.