CarterBaldwin Executive Search Tapped to Find President for Liberty University
September 6, 2022 – CarterBaldwin Executive Search has been enlisted by Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA to help find its next president. Founding partner Price Harding is leading the assignment for the search firm along with partner Bill Peterson.
The evangelical university’s current and interim president, Jerry Prevo, has served in the role for two years. Prior to his current role, Mr. Prevo chaired the university’s board of trustees for many years. He replaced Jerry Falwell Jr., who resigned after a series of scandals, including his social media posting of an inappropriate photograph and reports about his behavior revolving around an extramarital affair his wife was having.
The university will be releasing a full position profile in mid-September to begin the official process of soliciting and evaluating potential candidates. The school’s search committee has set a target date of installing the new president prior to the 2023-2024 academic year. President Prevo will serve in his current position until the role is filled.
“During this season of institutional transition, Liberty University has benefited tremendously from a combination of stabilizing leaders with vast institutional experience and some of the nation’s best outside experts,” said search committee chairman Gilbert “Bud” Tinney. “The selection of CarterBaldwin demonstrates clearly Liberty’s ongoing commitment to excellence and its determination to work with the absolute best advisors to find the right individual to lead Liberty University into its next 50 years.”
A Unique Institution
In addition to its broad corporate work, CarterBaldwin is a leader in faith-based, not-for-profit executive search having placed more than 100 CEOs in faith-based institutions as well as many other senior executives.
“While we work across every sector, we are extremely proud of our work on behalf of faith-based institutions,” says Mr. Harding, chairman of CarterBaldwin and co-leader of the academic and non-profit practices. “Each CarterBaldwin search stands alone and is customized to meet the individual expectations and needs of our clients. Liberty University isn’t just one of the world’s largest institutions of higher education, it is also a unique institution with unique characteristics and nonnegotiable values. We are excited about partnering with the search committee to find the right leader. Along the way we will bring to the university our commitment to always providing objective counsel and the best available expertise in executive search. It’s an honor for us to help Liberty University find its next president.”
Liberty University’s Mr. Tinney thanked chairman Lee, president Prevo, the board of trustees, and search committee for the work they have already done in helping find the school’s next leader. “We ask for the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Liberty University to pray that God will guide us to the right leader for HIS university,” he said.
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Liberty University was founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns. It is among the largest private, non-profit universities in the nation. Located near the Blue Ridge Mountains on more than 7,000 acres, Liberty offers more than 700 unique programs of study from the certificate to the doctoral level. Over 450 programs are offered online. Utilizing its world-class infrastructure and Christian faculty, Liberty’s mission is to “Train Champions for Christ.” The university has 14,000 residential students, over 90,000 online students, and 20 NCAA Division I athletic programs.
A Top 50 Search Firm
Headquartered in Atlanta, CarterBaldwin provides executive search services in the healthcare, technology, non-profit, consumer services, industrial, and media/telecom sectors. Its clients include name-brand institutions, such as KPMG, ADP, Teradata, First Data, Duke University, New York Life, Fleet Pride, and Berkshire Hathaway. The firm is listed among a variety of rankings published by Hunt Scanlon Media, including its Top 50, Private Equity Power 100, and Top 40 Higher Education Search Firms.
How Culture Impacts an Organization
In this brand new episode of ‘Talent Talks,’ Rob Adams is joined by Chris Guiney, a partner at CarterBaldwin Executive Search. Here, Mr. Guiney discusses the topic of culture and its impact on organizations. He also examines how the culture of private equity firms differs from non-profit organizations and then closes by discussing the future impact of culture and DE+I initiatives. Listen Now!
Mr. Harding has been principal consultant on nearly 1,000 recruiting engagements for C-level leadership, officers and directors for privately held and publicly traded companies. He also co-leads CarterBaldwin’s university and non-profit search practice.
Mr. Peterson, a graduate of Liberty University, co-leads CarterBaldwin’s non-profit and academic practice, recruiting senior leaders for state university systems, private education institutions, non-profit entities, healthcare organizations and related companies. With over 20 years of executive search experience, he has successfully led hundreds of searches for chief executive officers, presidents, provosts, vice presidents and deans for private and public institutions, as well as senior level executives for corporate clients.
Related: CarterBaldwin Places 16th President at Oklahoma Baptist University
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
