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President Eli Capilouto announced in a campuswide email Thursday that Christine Riordan has been chosen as UK’s next provost.

Riordan, the dean of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, will begin in her new role this fall.

“Dr. Riordan’s candidacy stood out for so many people I talked with for a number of reasons: her compelling communications skills; her deep understanding of higher education’s future and how she has led a college to prominence; and the sense of excitement her candidacy generated as she discussed her commitment to working collaboratively as we build upon our missions of education, research and service,” Capilouto wrote in the email.

The Provost Search Committee looked for 10 months for the successor of Kumble Subbaswamy, who left UK to become chancellor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. College of Pharmacy Dean Tim Tracy has served as interim provost.

The two other final candidates were Jose Luis Bermudez, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University; and Nancy W. Brickhouse, the interim provost at the University of Delaware.

Riordan graduated with an undergraduate textile engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has an MBA and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior, both from Georgia State University. She served as the associate dean for external relations at Texas Christian University before moving to the University of Denver, where she has worked for the past five years.

“I am honored to work with President Capilouto, whose ambitious vision for the University of Kentucky and commonwealth brought me here,” Riordan said. “The energy, strength, and commitment of the UK community are clear. It will be a privilege to serve the distinguished UK faculty, staff, students and alumni, and become part of this outstanding institution and community.”

At a campuswide forum last week, she mentioned global competency, technology and diversity as important issues to address at UK.

“As we think about technology and its role on a campus, it helps us reimagine how to do things,” Riordan said last week. “Our students need the skill sets related to this technology, so it is our responsibility to teach our students how to use it.”

Denver’s Daniels College raises more than $14 million each year in private and corporate funds under Riordan’s direction, according to a UK news release. Its endowment has increased from $70 million in 2008 to more than $106 million this year, according to the release.

Her appointment is subject to the Board of Trustees’ approval at its May 14 meeting.