Isaacson, Miller Leading President Search for the University of Virginia
November 25, 2025 – Boston-based Isaacson, Miller is currently seeking the 10th president for the University of Virginia (UVA). John Isaacson, Keight Tucker Kennedy, John Muckle, Kelly McLaughlin, and Kristen Andersen are leading the assignment. Past president Jim Ryan resigned in June 2025 under pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice, which investigated the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
According to a briefing from Isaacson, Miller, the search process is following a classic timeline similar to many other presidential searches, including the last two conducted at UVA. Both the committee statement and the Isaacson, Miller report remark on the significant interest and impressive caliber of candidates for the position. The firm has also observed how competitive the environment is for high-quality candidates. Isaacson, Miller attributed the high level of interest to the university’s strong reputation, high academic standards and position of national leadership at a unique moment.
“We serve as the special committee responsible for the university’s presidential search, and we want to speak directly to the community at this pivotal moment,” according to a statement from the special committee and the report from Isaacson, Miller. “We have just completed the first round of interviews with an extraordinarily impressive group. Their experience, vision, and commitment to higher education give us tremendous optimism. However, we are not yet at the point of selecting finalists. To responsibly narrow this exceptional pool, we must conduct additional due diligence, hold further interviews, and continue our internal deliberations.”
“We know there is concern across grounds about trust and transparency in the process,” the statement said. “While we understand these concerns, a successful presidential search must uphold strict confidentiality. The strongest candidates – almost all of whom currently hold prominent leadership roles at major universities or institutions – will only participate if their privacy is fully protected. Without that confidentiality, the University would lose access to the caliber of candidates our community deserves.”
“As a committee, we want to state unequivocally: This search has been conducted with rigor, fairness, and integrity thus far,” the statement continued. “We would not lend our names or our service to a process that failed to meet those standards. Our consultant, John Isaacson – who also led the search that brought president Ryan to UVA – has repeatedly affirmed that both our process and our timeline are entirely typical for a presidential search of this scale and caliber.”
“Isaacson, Miller is honored to support the special committee in UVA’s presidential search,” the firm said. “The special committee, by design, includes students, faculty, staff, alumni, current trustees and former trustees from prior administrations. It is considerably larger, also by design, than most presidential search committees. Over the last few decades, we have only seen one or two that are larger.”
“When committees launch presidential searches, they almost always reach out broadly to their university constituencies,” Isaacson, Miller said. “At UVA, in this demanding time, the special committee created over 40 different listening sessions, engaging every constituency in the UVA community. That is consistent with classical search practice, though rarely at this scale. The number of listening sessions exceeded most presidential selection processes. As part of our collective learning, we, at the firm, with the committee’s guidance, created a survey sent broadly to UVA faculty, staff, students, and alumni, seeking advice and nominations. We received just over 1,300 responses, which produced clear themes to guide the special committee and a helpful list of nominations.”
“As is the norm for a presidential search for a major research university, we, at the firm, did foundational research to create a prospective candidate list of talented leaders, particularly those in higher education, focusing on those with the administrative experiences to lead an institution of UVA’s scale and prestige,” Isaacson, Miller continued. “This included leading presidents, provosts, and deans with special attention to identifying those with a connection, in their service or their education, to UVA wherever possible. The special committee was keen to identify candidates who demonstrate a deep appreciation for the university’s founding mission, longstanding values, and continued excellence.”
Related: Isaacson, Miller Recruits Chief Advancement Officer for the Taft School
“It has been a meticulous effort that sought out talent broadly across the country,” the search firm said. “This is a critical moment in higher education. At the start of the search, we were unsure how candidates would respond to the opportunity. We were pleased to learn that the University’s sterling reputation, outstanding quality of education and research activities, and national leadership position at an important time in higher education made the position very appealing in spite of challenges facing the sector at large. Candidate outreach yielded an extremely strong pool of highly qualified candidates.”
Isaacson, Miller Recruits 49th President for Georgetown University
Isaacson, Miller has recruited Eduardo M. Peñalver as the 49th president of Georgetown University. Mr. Peñalver will succeed interim president Robert M. Groves, who has led Georgetown for the past year after former president John J. DeGioia stepped down from his role in 2024 to recover from a stroke. “We are pleased to welcome Eduardo Peñalver to Georgetown University,” said Thomas A. Reynolds, chair of the board of directors. “President Peñalver is an exceptional leader steeped in the Catholic and Jesuit tradition who brings a wealth of experience in higher education, a global mindset, a commitment to social justice and academic excellence, and a bold vision for Georgetown’s future. We look forward to him joining our Georgetown community.”
In 1819, Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and inaugurated a bold experiment – a public university designed to advance human knowledge, educate leaders, and cultivate an informed citizenry. Today, the Charlottesville-based university has a strong arts and sciences faculty, a broad range of professional schools and a strong academic medical center. UVA has almost $15 billion in endowments and investments. One of the largest employers in central Virginia, the university employs nearly 30,000 people, including about 16,000 faculty and staff, and nearly 12,000 UVA Health employees.
Nationally Recognized Search Firm
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.
Related: Isaacson, Miller Helps Recruits 25th President for Marquette University
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.
A member of Isaacson, Miller’s team since 2014, Ms. Tucker Kennedy brings diverse experience in non-profit and higher education organizations to her practice. She has worked on several presidential searches, including those for Spelman College, Hamilton College, Converse College, Duke University, Johnson C. Smith University and Elizabeth City State University. Additionally, Ms. Tucker Kennedy has played a key role on several student affairs searches for Ohio State University, Washington University in St. Louis, Princeton, MIT and Cornell. As a search consultant, she has worked with historically black colleges and universities, women’s colleges, and K-12 education and advocacy organizations.
Mr. Muckle heads the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) practice area for the firm, building scientific capacity at many leading academic institutions. He also has engaged in a number of the firm’s most recent university president and provost searches. In addition, Mr. Muckle is a leader in the firm’s healthcare practice, where he oversees the recruitments of deans, department chairs, division chiefs, and biomedical center and institute directors. He has assisted clients such as Duke University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Iowa, and the University of Pennsylvania, among other leading academic healthcare organizations to attract talent at all levels.
Ms. McLaughlin joined Isaacson, Miller as a managing associate in 2021. She primarily focuses on higher education leadership searches, previously serving Boston University, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia, William & Mary, and others in their searches for senior leaders.
Ms. Andersen joined Isaacson, Miller as a senior associate in 2021 and her work has focused on higher education leadership roles. Her notable placements include dean of the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University, vice provost for enrollment at UNC-Chapel Hill, dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh, provost and dean of the College of the Holy Cross, and dean of Newcomb-Tulane College at Tulane University.
Related: Academic Sector Pumping Big Fees Into Search Firms
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
