Presidential Search Committee Named

Dear Members of the St. Thomas Community,

As you all know, President Julie Sullivan’s service to St. Thomas concludes with the end of this academic year. Thanks to President Sullivan’s leadership, our growing reputation and a strong community of staff and faculty, this is a time of great strength for St. Thomas. We are ideally poised to engage in the national search for the next president of the University.

I am grateful to Rob Vischer, who begins his role as interim president on June 1. Rob will lead the efforts to continue St. Thomas’ momentum and progress throughout the next academic year.

Throughout the next several months, a search committee, named below, will engage in a thoughtful and effective search process.

I’m pleased to announce that Trustee Amy R. Goldman, Vice Chair of the Board, has agreed to chair the presidential search committee and Reverend Edward A. Malloy, a trustee and former president of the University of Notre Dame, has agreed to serve as vice chair. This is a significant time commitment and I thank them most sincerely for their dedication and leadership.

Joining them on the committee are:

• Additional members of the Board of Trustees (Sr. Mary Haddad '07, Jim Kolar ’85, Jodeen A. Kozlak '85, Pat Ryan ’75, Dr. Penny Wheeler and Mark Zesbaugh ’86)
• Three faculty members (Dr. Tanya Gladney, College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Angela High-Pippert, College of Arts and Sciences and Dr. Christopher Michaelson, Opus College of Business)
• Three staff members (Linda Baughman, Dean of Students, Jemal Griffin, Athletics, Dr. Sheneeta White, Associate Vice Provost for Student Success)
• Helping to coordinate the search from St. Thomas will be Amy McDonough, chief of staff and Carrie Mahto, office of general counsel.

I am very appreciative of the members of this committee for volunteering their time and energies to help us select our new president. I am very pleased that the people making up this committee represent a diverse, thoughtful, engaged and truly representative group of the St. Thomas community.

The search committee, along with our search firm WittKieffer, has begun to host stakeholder listening sessions to identify the attributes of candidates who should make up the pool of applicants from whom the Search Committee may select our next president. Campus community members who are unable to attend are encouraged to complete a brief survey to include their thoughts on the university's strengths and features, future challenges, and the ideal characteristics, qualifications and credentials of the next president.

As we begin our work, I am confident our collective efforts will result in a talented pool of candidates and the selection of a president who will add to the momentum of St. Thomas.

Sincerely,

Patrick G. Ryan '75

Chair, Board of Trustees