(Bloomberg) -- Northwestern University named Michael Schill as president to replace Rebecca Blank, who was to have taken the job last month but stepped down after learning she has cancer. 

Schill will begin at Northwestern this fall, according to a statement Thursday from the school, which is located in Evanston, Illinois.

Since 2015, Schill has been president of the University of Oregon. Previously, he served as a dean and law professor at the University of Chicago Law School. His scholarship focuses on low-income housing and land use. He attended Princeton University as a first-generation college student, and went on to Yale Law School. 

Northwestern re-engaged its 34-person presidential search committee to swiftly find a replacement after Blank resigned, the school said in the statement.

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