Marcelo Suarez-Orozco was unanimously appointed as the new chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston on Monday by the university system's board of trustees.

A search committee last month identified Suarez-Orozco, a dean at the University of California Los Angeles, as its one finalist, and he had the backing of the school's faculty council. UMass Boston has been without a permanent chancellor since Keith Motley stepped down in June 2017. In May 2018, a first search attempt crumbled after all all three finalists withdrew from the process following campus visits.

Norm Peters, the trustee who chaired the search committee, said the panel picked a candidate that "impressed and inspired us all," and UMass President Marty Meehan said Suarez-Orozco was a "distinguished scholar." "I can't imagine a committee conducting a better process or bringing us a better result," Meehan said.