Baker and Assoc. to Lead President Search for U. of Mary Washington
June 18, 2015 – Baker and Associates, LLC has been chosen by the University of Mary Washington in Virginia to lead in the search for its 10th president. Rick Hurley, who has served as the University’s president since 2010, said he will retire, effective next June. The search will be led by senior vice president Martin Baker.
Baker and Associates has conducted more than 500 searches at colleges and universities across the nation. Previous presidential and chancellor searches have included the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Appalachian State University, and Western Carolina University. The firm has conducted a number of searches within Virginia, including those at Longwood University, James Madison University, the University of Virginia and Christopher Newport University. Last year, the firm assisted with the recruitment of the new dean of the Honors College at Virginia Commonwealth University and earlier this year completed the search to recruit the new director of Institutional Equity at VCU.
“Martin Baker brings a combined passion for liberal arts education and the extensive experience necessary to conduct an innovative and strategic executive search,” said Holly Cuellar, rector for the University of Mary Washington’s Board of Visitors. “The search will be national in scope and every effort will be made to cultivate a rich pool of exceptionally well-qualified candidates for consideration.”
Baker and Associates was selected by the presidential search advisory committee, which is chaired by Rector Cuellar, following several interviews with multiple search firms. The firm will assist the search advisory committee with the initial screening, vetting, and interviewing of candidates and will support the Board of Visitors in the final selection of the next president.
“Being so well-known for its outstanding commitment to liberal arts, there’s already such prestige associated with Mary Washington,” said Mr. Baker. “With high-quality faculty, staff and students, along with a dedicated Board of Visitors, there is a lot about the university that will attract a robust pool of candidates.”
The University of Mary Washington is a public university that focuses on undergraduate education in the liberal arts. The core of its main campus of roughly 4,000 mostly residential students in Fredericksburg, Virginia is the College of Arts and Sciences, which offers degrees in various liberal arts disciplines.
Baker and Associates was established in 2007 and focuses on executive search in the academic, health sciences and not-for-profit sectors.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
