Michael Jacobson, for eight years the president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice, will resign from the nonprofit research and policy center this winter to lead a new public and fiscal policy institute for governments at the City University of New York. He will also be a professor in the sociology department of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. John F. Savarese, chairman of the Vera Board of Trustees, called Jacobson a "transformative leader."

During Jacobson's tenure, Vera’s budget increased three-fold and it opened new offices in Washington, DC, New Orleans and Los Angeles, working in 45 states in all as well as in Africa, China, and elsewhere. Jacobson is the fourth president of Vera, which was founded in 1961. He will remain as president as the search for his successor commences.