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Engineer named chief of the SUNY system

New York Now

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  An engineer who served as an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Energy during the Obama administration has been named the next leader of New York State's public university system.

The State University of New York says its board of trustees approved  Kristina  Johnson's appointment as SUNY chancellor Monday afternoon. Her selection was first reported by The New York Times early Monday.

She'll replace Nancy Zimpher, who has overseen the nation's largest public university system for the past eight years.

Zimpher steps down in June. Johnson takes over Sept. 5.

Johnson was born in St. Louis and raised in Denver. A former dean of Duke University's engineering school, Johnson served as an energy undersecretary from 2009 to the end of 2010.

The SUNY system has nearly 600,000 students spread across 64 campuses.

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