LINCOLN -- The head of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's largest academic unit will serve as the interim leader of the university's academic enterprise.

Mark Button, the dean of UNL's College of Arts and Sciences, will serve as interim executive vice chancellor following the departure of Katherine Ankerson at the end of the year, Chancellor Rodney Bennett announced Friday.

"I am very grateful to Dean Button for answering this new call to leadership," Bennett said in an email to faculty, students and staff Friday.

Bennett said Button has helped the College of Arts and Sciences achieve record-breaking research awards, increases in student retention and graduation rates.

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Button has worked at UNL since 2019. Prior to Nebraska, Button was at the University of Utah, where he served as the chair of the political science department and was the director of graduate studies.

As the interim executive vice chancellor -- also known as the chief academic officer -- Button will oversee UNL's undergraduate teaching and learning, faculty development, promotion and tenure, resource allocation, and improving academic initiatives.

Button will also oversee other deans at UNL other than Mike Boehm, the vice chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, who reports directly to Bennett.

Button holds a political science degree from the University of Oregon and a doctorate from Rutgers University, and has written books on political ethics, deliberate democracy and the history of moral and political thought.

Friday's announcement comes two days after Ankerson announced her plans to retire on Dec. 31. She served as UNL's executive vice chancellor since 2022.

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