The University of Oregon Board of Trustees announced on Thursday that President Michael H. Schill will be leaving the UO to become the new president at Northwestern University. His appointment as president will begin this fall, according to a news release from Northwestern.

Schill began his tenure at UO in 2015 and holds a tenured faculty appointment in the University of Oregon School of Law. His priorities to strengthen the UO community included enhancing academic and research excellence, supporting student access and success, providing an outstanding campus experience and improving inclusion and diversity, according to his online biography from the UO website.

“I’m really looking forward to engaging with the entire Northwestern community to push out the frontiers of research, to enhance diversity, and to foster a sense of belonging and respect,” Schill said in a video statement.

Schill’s election as Northwestern’s forthcoming president comes a month after Rebecca Blank, the university’s previous leader, announced her resignation as president due to her cancer diagnosis. Northwestern’s Chair of the Board of Trustees reconvened their 34-member Presidential Search Committee, ultimately endorsing Schill to the board.

“I and the other members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon are immensely grateful for President Schill’s service and leadership to this university and its faculty, staff and students,” Ginevra Ralph, UO’s Chair of the Board of Trustees, said in a statement.

The board will now work to appoint an interim president, who will be expected to begin service before the start of the academic year, according to the Chair’s statement. On Sept. 15-16, the board will commence to discuss plans for an international search for the UO’s permanent president, according to the statement.