RH Perry & Associates Seeking President for Macomb Community College
January 30, 2026 – RH Perry & Associates has been retained by Macomb Community College to lead in its search for its seventh president. The current president, James O. Sawyer, will retire at the end of the current fiscal year. Senior consultants Gena Glickman and George Santiago are leading the assignment. The successful candidate will build upon the accomplishments the college has made under the institution’s current leadership and through the outcomes of its 2025 strategic plan.
The president of Macomb Community College, reporting to the board of trustees, serves as the chief executive officer of the college and oversees the daily administration and operation of the college. The president is responsible for supporting the philosophical tenets reflected in the institution’s vison statement, mission statement, strategic goals and values. The president of the college advances the college’s strategic agenda by providing a strategic focus for every aspect of the operation of the institution.
The president is expected to be a highly visible and engaging leader with a future-focused vision. Being able to inspire others using high-level communication and interpersonal skills, he/she should exemplify authenticity and empathy, according to the job specification.
Those applying should have an appropriate terminal degree from a regionally accredited institution or its equivalency in work or professional experience. They must have significant and progressive administrative and leadership experience in higher education, preferably at a community college. Higher education teaching experience is preferred, especially at a community college.
In addition, candidates must have experience and success in the execution of a capital campaign and other assorted strategies in development, fundraising, and friend raising. They should have an understand for the changing role and significance of technology in the delivery of education and services for students, and how artificial intelligence can affect teaching and learning and operations.
Established in September 1954 with 84 students meeting in borrowed high school classrooms, today Macomb Community College is an accredited, two-year, comprehensive, community college with a campus and a Michigan Technical Education Center in Warren, MI, and another campus along with a Public Service Institute in Clinton Township.
Established in 1974, RH Perry & Associates offers strong credentials and experience in academic executive search, having completed well over 1,000 searches in its history. Serving both two-year and four-year institutions, the firm’s higher education practice consists of senior-level executives with a well-balanced mix of college and university presidential and senior administrative experience and executive search expertise. Headquartered in Ashville, NC, RH Perry’s consultants maintain offices in Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
Related: RH Perry & Associates Recruits 13th President for Briar Cliff University
Dr. Glickman, retired president of Massasoit Community College and president emerita, Manchester Community College, has a breadth of experience in higher education, beginning as a career counselor and culminating in 12 years as a community college president. Her background encompasses a distinguished career of more than 40 years in public and private community colleges and universities, including experience leading a college through significant change with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Santiago has dedicated his professional career of more than 30 years to educational leadership in higher education. Most recently, he was president and chief executive officer of TCI College of Technology. Prior to his tenure there, he was president and CEO of Briarcliffe College.
New Mexico Highlands University Searches
RH Perry & Associates recently assisted in the recruitment of Dann Brown as the new provost and vice president of academic affairs of New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU). The assignment was led by senior consultants Sue DeWine and Pam Shockley-Zalabak. “The experience Dr. Brown brings to NMHU will serve our institution well as we pursue innovative and transformational change initiatives,” said Neil Woolf, president. “Dann has a track record of implementing transformational change initiatives and a wealth of experience across higher education. We’re excited for his arrival.”
Dr. Brown is an experienced higher education administrator with nearly 20 years serving in virtually every facet of academic administration on regional comprehensive, doctoral-granting, and Emerging Research University campuses in New Mexico and Texas. He earned his PhD in plant pathology from Oklahoma State University and MS/BS in biology from Pittsburg State University.
Last year, New Mexico Highlands University also used RH Perry & Associates to recruit Mr. Woolf as its president. He was selected from a field of over 80 candidates. The board of regents charged the search committee and its chairman, Brandon Kempner, to conduct an open and transparent search that incorporated feedback received from students, staff, faculty, alumni, and the residents of the Las Vegas community, the advice and assistance of RH Perry & Associates, and within the parameters set out by New Mexico state statute. Hundreds of stakeholders responded to a feedback survey conducted on campus and in the community at the outset of the search.
Related: RH Perry & Associates Recruits President for Onondaga Community College
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
