Harris Search Associates Assist Simmons University with Search for New Dean
September 13, 2024 – After a comprehensive search process, Harris Search Associates assisted Simmons University in the recruitment of Ammina Kothari to serve as the new dean of the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Jeffrey Harris and Jon Schwantes led the assignment. The appointment of Dr. Kothari follows an expansive search which included vetting more than 60 candidates. The search committee interviewed 18 semifinalists and welcomed three finalists to campus to meet with members of the Simmons community. “We want to thank Harris Associates for their assistance in this search, along with the Simmons search committee co-chaired by president Lynn Perry Wooten and Interim dean of the Gwen Ifill School Diane Grossman,” the school said.
Dr. Kothari has served as the director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island since 2021, where she worked with local media partners to establish scholarship and internship opportunities for students. Under her leadership, the school established the Social Media Research Lab, which allows students to work with industry partners to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world scenarios.
“I am excited to join the Simmons community and to have the opportunity to develop and advance undergraduate and graduate programming that will allow our students to thrive,” said Dr. Kothari. “During this period of rapid disruption in media and communication, students must be able to think critically, work in an interdisciplinary fashion, and engage in research and experiential learning opportunities. Gwen Ifill leaves a transformational legacy, and I am looking forward to working collaboratively to shape a vibrant future for the Ifill School as a communications and liberal arts leader in higher education.”
In 2023, Dr. Kothari was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi honors society and was selected as a Scripps Howard Leadership Academy fellow. A dynamic, energetic, and collaborative leader, she impressed the search committee with her leadership experience both at URI and earlier at the Rochester Institute of Technology. At RIT, she served as a program director at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and received the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching, RIT’s highest honor for tenured faculty.
Simmons University is a private university in Boston. It was established in 1899 by clothing manufacturer John Simmons.It has a respected women-centered undergraduate program, as well as coeducational graduate programs in nursing and health sciences, social work, public health, library and information science and liberal arts.
Higher Education Specialists
Harris Search Associates, an IIC Partners member firm, is a global higher education executive search and board advisory consulting firm with 44 offices in 33 countries worldwide. The firm’s higher education executive search practice is focused on identifying and attracting leaders to support the growth of clients in the areas of research, science, engineering, academic medicine, and healthcare enterprises. Clients include leading universities, research parks, institutes, academic medical centers, and healthcare organizations driving global innovation and discovery. Founded in 1997, Harris Search Associates was modeled after the first premier management consulting firms, in addition to its Ohio headquarters, the firm has regional offices in San Francisco and Dallas.
Mr. Harris is the founder of the firm and leads the higher education, academic medicine, and healthcare administration practices. Prior to establishing the firm in 1997, Mr. Harris worked five years for a leading retained executive search firm where he concentrated on senior assignments on behalf of leading engineering, research, and health sciences clients. He is the global leader of the IIC Partners higher education/academic medicine practice, and from 2010 to 2013, was appointed to the board of IIC Partners as vice-chair for the Americas.
Recent clients include Michigan State University, Purdue University, Indiana University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, Medical College of Wisconsin, University at Buffalo, Vanderbilt University, Oakland University, University of South Florida, University of Nebraska, Vanderbilt University, Kansas State University, University of North Dakota, University of South Dakota, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Meharry Medical College, and Oregon Health & Science University.
Mr. Schwantes serves as senior consultant to Harris Search Associates on senior leadership assignments providing insight, national relationships, and vetting of candidates on behalf of client institution committees and the firm. In addition, he continues to lead OAV Strategy & Communications where he advises a variety of corporate, government, nonprofit and higher education clients. Among the consultancy’s areas of expertise: media convergence, strategic planning and communication, public policy, research, process innovation, audience development, advocacy, and coalition building, executive communication, speechwriting, crisis communication, media relations, public relations, and brand management.
Related: Harris Search Associates Assists Johnson County Community College with Senior HR Search
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
