Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Long is retiring from the University of Delaware, effective May 14.

Long has served on President Dennis Assanis’s senior leadership team since arriving at UD in March 2019. Long’s portfolio of professional responsibility includes oversight of campus and public safety, facilities, human resources, information technologies, real estate and the University police department.

Melissa Bard, vice president of human resources, will manage Long’s portfolio as interim chief operating officer, effective immediately. A national search for Long’s permanent replacement will begin immediately, Assanis said. 

“John Long’s leadership has been invaluable in helping to advance our University through operational excellence, infrastructure enhancements and unwavering commitments to campus safety and the student experience, among other critical areas,” Assanis said. “Our community is grateful to John for his abundant contributions to the University of Delaware, and we wish him happiness in his retirement.”

“It has been an honor to support the University of Delaware and work collaboratively with President Assanis and so many others for the last six years,” Long said. “Together, we have advanced our shared goals of strengthening our already robust campus and student experiences, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have made a lasting difference at UD.”

During his tenure at UD, Long has collaborated on projects and initiatives across numerous operational areas.

His diverse portfolio of responsibility required instrumental collaboration with leaders across campus to ensure operational continuity for the University throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This included emergency assessment and adaptation of both physical and digital resources to optimize functional academic programming and student experience. In addition, Long has overseen growth and prioritization of employee wellness programs in Human Resources; as an example, his support led to the creation of the Staff Excellence Awards, now in its second year. In his operational leadership role, he has been responsible for evaluating housing inventory and optimizing strategic campus planning in the face of increasing costs of operation and maintenance.

Long also has overseen campus enhancements on the development and expansion side, like the renovation of Delaware Stadium and the establishment of the Whitney Athletic Center as a state-of-the-art training facility for student-athletes. Additional campus enhancements include construction of a new interdisciplinary hub of collaboration and discovery, known as Building X, to bridge scholars and researchers from across campus, as well as ongoing developments on the University’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus. For example, the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center and the FinTech Innovation Hub are two key facilities that are designed for groundbreaking research and workforce development in the fields of biopharmaceuticals and financial technology, respectively.

The University of Delaware Police Department, which reports to Long, announced in November that it has received another four-year accreditation cycle from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc., the nation’s leading law enforcement credentialing agency.

Long joined the UD community from the University of South Florida, where had served as chief operating officer and special adviser to the senior vice president of strategic financial strategies. He is a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he was mission support group commander with responsibility for the base’s $80 million budget for fire, rescue, public works, and more. He also provided direct support services logistics, infrastructure and security for the U.S. president, vice president, members of the cabinet and Congress.