AGB Search Enters Final Stretch of 2020 With Wide Range of Assignments Underway
September 9, 2020 – A number of colleges and universities across the country are opening searches that, if all goes to plan, will provide high-profile leaders to take them into a new era of fundraising, digitalization, sports and, increasingly the case, globalization – not to mention a pandemic.
One national recruiting outfit, Washington, D.C.-based AGB Search, has become a magnet for such assignments — recently launching a variety of top leadership searches for Arizona State University, Bennett College, Dunwoody College of Technology, LeMoyne-Owen College, Saint Mary’s College of California, Des Moines University and a host of others. For this search firm and a raft of others the remaining months of 2020 look to be busy, even while the academic sector is being hit from all angles as a result of the current crisis.
Among AGB Search’s current assignments:
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Position: CEO for the ASU Knowledge Enterprise. The chief executive officer provides leadership and strategic direction to advance research, innovation, entrepreneurship, strategic partnerships and corporate engagement, and global and economic development at the university. The ideal candidate will be a highly accomplished and respected scholar and researcher in their field with a significant record of federally funded research. The individual should have a record of professional and administrative experience in a research university or other complex organizational environment. The search is being led by Rod McDavis, managing principal; Kimberly Templeton, principal; and Sally Mason, executive search consultant.
Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C. Position: Director of institutional planning, assessment, effectiveness and research (IPAER). The college’s next IPAER will have an opportunity to reimagine and reinvent the importance of liberal arts for young women of color who aspire to leadership in social justice, civil rights and social mobility. In addition to five-plus years of managerial experience, candidates should have exceptional analytical skills that comprehend complex data and issues that results in accurate and actionable conclusions. Executive search consultants Ronald Carter and Richard Wueste are leading the assignment.
Dunwoody College of Technology, Minneapolis, MN. Position: Provost. This cabinet-level leadership position reports to the president and works collaboratively to shape the future direction of academic programs, instructional strategies and student experience. Experience teaching and leading in a technical/applied learning setting, and a knowledge of student support services and activities is required. The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate a record of career achievement and contribution that has fully prepared them for the role. Leading the assignment are executive recruiters Loren Anderson and Kim Bobby.
LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis, TN. Position: President. The college seeks a transformational leader with the vision, capability and drive to inspire the college community to higher levels. The ideal candidate is a proven community-builder who sees the education, safety, growth and well-being of students as the utmost priority. Prospects must possess substantial management, planning and financial skills, as well as an astute understanding of college finances and the relationships among academic priorities, budgeting and fundraising. Recruiters Kim Bobby and Carlton Brown are spearheading the search.
Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA. Position: President. The president will be expected to model servant leadership reflective of the charisma of the Lasallian Brothers and the Catholic intellectual tradition and be able to enthusiastically communicate both within and outside of the college community. Financial acumen, a terminal degree, distinction as an institutional leader, a record of progressive responsibility and experience working successfully with budgets comparable in size and complexity to that of Saint Mary’s are also required. The search is being led by Monica Burton, principal, and search consultant Shannon McCambridge.
Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA. Position: Dean of the college of health and sciences. This individual will be responsible for providing collaborative and consultative academic leadership and management within the college of health and sciences. The ideal candidate will be an engaging, entrepreneurial and collaborative leader who is a highly effective administrator in all dimensions. Executive search consultants Richard Torgerson and Fred Moore are heading the search.
Related: Recruitment of Academia Presidents Rising
Miami-Dade College, Miami, FL. Position: President. The leader must have outstanding leadership qualities, proven success leading dynamic complex organizations, and a demonstrated ability to build partnerships with key stakeholders. Candidates should have a demonstrated ability to lead and manage a large, multisite, complex higher education organization and to work effectively with a governing board. Individuals from outside of higher education will also be considered. The assignment is being led by Rod McDavis, managing principal; Melissa Trotta, associate managing principal; and executive recruiters Carlos Hernández and Fred Moore.
AGB Search Embarks On Prodigious Start to New Year
The Washington, D.C. based search firm has a busy year ahead, looking to fill every role from president to provost to a diversity leader for an array of universities and colleges around the country. Let’s take a closer look.
New York State Education Department, Albany, NY. Position: Commissioner of education and president of the University of the State of New York. The commissioner must articulate a shared vision that will shape the future of the state’s largest educational enterprise, bringing creative, can-do problem-solving while carrying out the goals and policies of the board of regents. Candidates should bring visionary, transformative, inclusive, equitable and decisive leadership to the position. Jim McCormick, Janice Fitzgerald and Tom Layzell, executive search consultants, are leading the assignment.
University of Alaska Foundation, Anchorage, AK. Position: President and chief development officer. The role provides an opportunity to play a significant leadership role in expanding and increasing philanthropy for the university system-wide, including providing direction for the university’s first system-wide comprehensive campaign. The successful candidate will have successful leadership qualifications in a senior administrative capacity; demonstrated success in fundraising; and/or experience in universities, foundations and working with endowments. Kimberly Templeton, principal, and Jim Lanier, executive search consultant, are spearheading the search.
AGB Search, which specializes in higher education leadership, conducts searches for college and university presidents, chancellors, provosts, vice presidents, deans, university system heads and CEOs of coordinating boards and related foundations. The firm was founded by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) in 2010.
Related: AGB Search Selected by Kent State to Recruit New Provost
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
