UMass announces presidential search committee

BOSTON -- March 25, 2010:The University of Massachusetts today announced the formation of the Committee that will guide the search for a new President.

The University of Massachusetts Presidential Search Committee will be responsible for developing a pool of candidates and recommending finalists to the UMass Board of Trustees, which has the final responsibility for selecting a new President.

"This Search Committee is diverse, distinguished and representative of the University and the Commonwealth that it serves," said University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees Chairman Robert J. Manning, who under University policy is responsible for appointing the search panel.

"I am confident that this Committee will be able to assemble a pool of superb candidates and will recommend finalists, any one of whom would be an outstanding new leader for the five-campus University of Massachusetts system," Manning said.

The Search Committee will be chaired by James J. Karam, who also serves as vice chairman of the UMass Board of Trustees. Trustee Henry M. Thomas III will serve as Vice Chair of the Search Committee.

"I look forward to this search process and to helping to select a new leader for a University that has accomplished much and is poised to take its place alongside the very best public universities in the nation," Karam said.

The search process will be aimed at choosing a successor to UMass President Jack M. Wilson, who recently announced that he will conclude his presidency when his term ends on June 30, 2011. Wilson has served as President since September 2, 2003.

Because President Wilson has more than a year to serve on his current term, the University expects to have a new President selected before he departs, Manning said.

"We hope and expect to have this process concluded before Jack Wilson's term ends and therefore envision a seamless transition, one that will allow the University to maintain its positive momentum and to serve its students and the Commonwealth to the utmost," Manning said.

The Committee is expected to hold its first meeting in the coming weeks. The members of the Search Committee are:

Chairman of the search Committee:
James J. Karam, UMD '71
President and CEO, First Bristol Corporation
Vice Chair, University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees
Chair, Committee on Administration and Finance

Vice Chair:
Henry M. Thomas, III
President & CEO
Urban League of Springfield, Inc.
University of Massachusetts Trustee Chair, Committee on Academic and Student Affairs

Michael Carter, PhD
Professor and Chair
Economics
Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees
University of Massachusetts Lowell

Mari Castaneda, PhD
Distinguished Professor
Department of Communications,
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Edward W. Collins, Jr.
International Representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
University of Massachusetts Trustee

Edward H. D'Alelio, UMB '74
Retired Managing Director & CIO, Fixed Income, Putnam Investments
Chairman, University of Massachusetts Foundation Investment Committee

John A. DiBiaggio, DDS
Past President, Tufts University
Past President, Michigan State University
Past President, University of Connecticut
University of Massachusetts Trustee
Vice Chair, Committee on Academic and Student Affairs
Vice Chair, University Advancement Committee

Maria D. Furman, UMD '76
Retired Managing Director and Bond Portfolio Manager of Standish Mellon Asset Management
University of Massachusetts Trustee
Chair, Audit Committee

Robyn Hannigan, PhD
Professor and Chair,
Environmental, Earth and Ocean Studies,
College of Science and Mathematics
University of Massachusetts Boston

Charles J. Hoff, UML '66
Retired Chairman, CEO and Owner, Universal/Univis Inc.
Director, Hoff Family Partnership
Philanthropist
Former UMass Trustee

Philip W. Johnston, UMA '68
President, Philip W. Johnston Associates
University of Massachusetts Trustee
Chair, Committee on Science, Technology & Research
Chair, Compensation Committee
Vice Chair, Governance Committee

Laura King
Student, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Ruben J. King-Shaw Jr.
Chairman and CEO, Mansa Equity Partners Inc.
Vice Chair, University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees
Chair, Governance Committee
Vice Chair, Compensation Committee

Winston Langley, PhD
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston
Professor of Political Science and International Relations

Robert J. Manning, UML '84
CEO & CIO, MFS Investment Management
Chair, University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees

Craig C. Mello, PhD
Nobel Laureate
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Kathy Miraglia, EdD, UMA '06
Professor and Chair
Art Education
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Kerri E. Osterhaus-Houle, MD, FACOG, UMW '99
Partner, Women's Health of Central Mass
University of Massachusetts Trustee
Vice Chair, Committee on Science, Technology & Research

S. Paul Reville
Secretary of Education
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts Trustee

Mark E. Russell, UML '83, UMA '85
Vice President of Engineering, Technology and Mission Assurance, Raytheon Co.

Robert K. Sheridan
President & CEO, Savings Bank Life Insurance of Massachusetts
Chairman, University of Massachusetts
Building Authority
Former UMass Trustee

Stephen P. Tocco
President and CEO, ML Strategies
University of Massachusetts Trustee

Marcellette G. Williams, PhD
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and International Relations, University of Massachusetts
Former Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Contact: Robert P. Connolly, 617-548-0238