BOSTON - Sept. 12, 2011:UMass President Robert L. Caret and the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees today established an 18-person search committee that will conduct a national search for a new Chancellor for the University's flagship campus in Amherst.
The search committee will be chaired by Philip W. Johnston, a UMass Trustee and a UMass Amherst graduate, and includes UMass Amherst students, faculty and graduates, as well as members of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees.
The University is seeking a successor to Chancellor Robert C. Holub, who has announced that he will step down at the end of the 2011-2012 academic year.
"We are seeking a leader who will take what is already an outstanding public research university and bring it to even higher levels of accomplishment and acclaim. The selection of a permanent Chancellor is of critical importance to both the flagship campus and to the University as a whole. I am expecting this Committee to help identify candidates who will be able to lead the Amherst campus along its chosen path and continue to shape its vision for the future," President Caret said.
"For nearly a century and a half, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been shaping lives and building our Commonwealth. We want our next Chancellor to advance this historic mission and to make the University of Massachusetts even more indispensable to our citizens and our state," President Caret said.
President Caret added: "I want to commend Chancellor Holub for his leadership and for working to make public higher education of the highest quality available to all of our citizens."
James J. Karam, chairman of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees, said: "We intend to hold an open and inclusive search and are confident that we will be able to select the right leader for a campus that has provided an outstanding education to so many of our citizens and will be a beacon of excellence and opportunity for generations to come."
Johnston, who will chair the Search Committee, said: "As a UMass Amherst alumnus, I care deeply about the future of the campus. We intend to conduct a search that is open and transparent and look forward to reaching out to candidates who are serious about maintaining the high level of education that exists at UMass Amherst."
The role of the search committee is to develop a pool of candidates and to ultimately direct a small number of finalist candidates to President Caret, who then makes a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, which has the final responsibility for selecting a new Chancellor.
The members of the Search Committee are:
Chairman: Trustee Philip W. Johnston, UMass Amherst Class of 1968, President and founder of Philip W. Johnston Associates, former state Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Professor W. Richards (Rick) Adrion, Ph.D., Faculty Delegate to the Board of Trustees, Computer Science
- Professor Joseph Bartolomeo, Ph.D., Chair, Faculty Rules Committee, Chair of English Department
- Marilyn S. Billings, Faculty Rules Committee Member, W.E.B. Du Bois Library
- Professor Sergio F. Brena, Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Zachary J. Broughton, Student, Undergraduate Student Government Association Senator, UMass Amherst
- Priscilla M. Clarkson, Ph.D., UMass Amherst Class of 1969, Dean and Distinguished Professor, Commonwealth Honors College
- Trustee Edward W. Collins, Jr., International Representative, IBEW
- David Fubini, UMass Amherst Class of 1976, UMass Amherst Foundation Board of Directors, Director, McKinsey & Company
- Ronald F. Grasso, Jr., UMass Amherst Class of 1992, President, UMass Amherst Alumni Association, First VP, Wealth Management, Smith Barney, Inc.
- Eugene M. Isenberg, UMass Amherst Class of 1950, UMass Amherst Foundation Board of Directors, Chairman and CEO of Nabors Industries, Ltd.
- John F. Kennedy, UMass Amherst Class of 1976G, President, UMass Amherst Foundation Board of Directors
- Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack, Ed.D., UMass Amherst Class of 1979EdD, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
- Professor Mzamo P. Mangaliso, Ph.D., UMass Amherst Class of 1988PhD, Isenberg School of Management
- Trustee S. Paul Reville, Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Hongmei Sun, Student, Graduate Student Association President, UMass Amherst
- Marcellette G. Williams, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and International Relations, University of Massachusetts
- Trustee Victor Woolridge, UMass Amherst Class of 1980,Vice President, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, LLC
The University of Massachusetts is a five-campus system, with campuses in Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell and Worcester. The University's flagship campus is located in Amherst and Worcester is home to the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The University of Massachusetts is the largest university in New England, with more than 69,000 students enrolled and graduating more than 13,000 students each year.
Contact: Robert P. Connolly, 617-287-7073