The search is on

Kenyon's Board of Trustees has appointed a fifteen- member committee charged with managing the search for the eighteenth president of the College.

The committee began its historic work this spring and, with the assistance of an academic search consultant, expects to consider specific candidates this fall. The committee intends to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees by March 1, 2003. The new president will take office in July 2003.

"Kenyon is very strong now, and the presidential position is one that will be of great interest to many highly qualified candidates," said Trustee Cornelia Ireland Hallinan '76, who will serve as chair of the Presidential Search Committee. Hallinan, who also led the search that nominated President Robert A. Oden Jr., says the committee's first step will be to formulate a statement setting forth the criteria and qualifications the College most desires in its next president. The statement is expected to help generate a pool of applicants, which the committee will screen. Preliminary interviews will begin in the fall.

Assisting in this process will be Barbara E. Taylor, a senior consultant with the Academic Search Consultation Service in Washington, D.C., who has served as a consultant to more than eighty colleges and universities. Taylor visited campus this spring to interview members of Kenyon's administration, faculty, and staff, as well as students and alumni. Her firm assisted the College in the search for President Oden.

Members of the search committee include trustees William E. Bennett '68, Donald B. Hebb '64, William E. Lowry Jr. '56, Barry F. Schwartz '70, Barrett A. Toan '69, and Ellen C. Turner '80. Also on the search committee are Christopher D. Barth '93, librarian and technology consultant; Craig A. Slaughter, associate director of financial aid; Hays C. Stone '99, administrative assistant for the Office of Public Affairs; and faculty members Kimberly McMullen, associate professor of English, and Timothy S. Sullivan, associate professor of physics. Student representation includes Lindsay M. Sabik '03 and Thomas C. Susman '04, while Mary Kay Karzas '75 will represent Kenyon in her position as the Alumni Council president.

"This is a very strong committee," says Hallinan. "The constituencies represented are broad and deep." Joseph L. Klesner, professor of political science, will serve as the search committee's coordinator.

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