Isaacson, Miller Leading President Search for Georgetown University
April 14, 2025 – Boston-based Isaacson, Miller was recently retained by Georgetown University to lead in its search for a new president. John Isaacson, Anita Tien, Berkley Burke, and Jane McInerney are leading the assignment. The search committee is made up of directors of our board as well as members of the faculty and the Society of Jesus. As the search committee begins its work, it will announce several opportunities for community input, including listening sessions for faculty, staff, students and alumni as well as other mechanisms for input.
“Our board of directors has articulated that the future president will implement the university’s vision for excellence; sustain our strong Catholic and Jesuit identity; foster a sense of community, shared purpose and collaboration among our faculty, staff, students and alumni; and ensure Georgetown continues its leadership in higher education on a national and global level, among other priorities,” the school said in a release. “The board has retained the internationally recognized search firm Isaacson, Miller to work with them to manage the search process. Isaacson, Miller has been involved in numerous and successful academic searches across higher education, including at multiple Jesuit colleges and universities, and has been engaged on other searches at Georgetown. Searches like this are complex and sensitive, and we expect to benefit greatly from their expertise, and specialized resources to generate a pool of outstanding candidates.”
For the first time in 25 years, Georgetown is seeking new leadership. The next president will lead the University at a historic inflection point. Knowledge is being expanded and recombined into new fields, such as neuroscience and artificial intelligence. The school’s faculty and students seek to be on the cutting edge of human knowledge, with ground-breaking research and education programs. The university is committed to and focused on solving problems – locally, nationally, and globally. To sustain this progress, the university is ensuring fluidity between disciplines and building partnerships inside the university and with external institutions. Given the platform of innovation built over the last years, the next president will have the opportunity to lead Georgetown through a significant time of unprecedented growth and impact.
Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C., and founded in 1789, is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit University in the United States. Over its 236 years, Georgetown has become a leading global research university, routinely ranked among the top twenty-five in the country, with individual schools ranked more highly.
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A nationally recognized search firm focused on recruiting transformational leaders for mission-driven organizations, Isaacson, Miller has conducted thousands of placements over more than three decades. More than half of the firm’s work has been in academia, involving university presidents, college chancellors and deans. The firm has filled top leadership posts at Wellesley College, Washington State University, Miami University, Howard University, Bowdoin College, Dartmouth, NYU, Virginia State University, and the University of North Carolina, among others.
Veteran Search Consultants
Mr. Isaacson, the firm’s chair, founded Isaacson, Miller in 1982. He has led searches in many areas of the firm’s practice. Mr. Isaacson has helped the firm develop its cumulative knowledge of the craft of search and has attended, with increasing interest, to the missionary purposes of institutions, the political and economic disciplines of specialized markets, and the emotional and intellectual learnings that leaders acquire in a committed working life.
Ms. Tien conducts searches for leadership at arts and cultural organizations, foundations and colleges and universities. Within higher education, her practice includes presidents, provosts, deans of colleges of arts and sciences, the fine and performing arts, computer and information sciences, and chief information officers.
Ms. Burke joined Isaacson, Miller as an associate in 2019. She joined the firm with notable experience in higher education, k-12 education, and international education, most recently serving as an assistant director of admission at Georgetown University.
Ms. McInerney began her career at Isaacson, Miller in 2008 as a reference specialist and transitioned to recruitment in 2021. Given her previous background in academic medicine as a research scientist, she focuses on searches for academic medical centers, scientific and research organizations, and higher education. Some notable clients have been the University of Pennsylvania, University of Minnesota, Medical College of Wisconsin, Virginia Commonwealth University, and University of California, Davis.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
