University of West Georgia Retains Buffkin / Baker to Find New President
February 10, 2025 – Partner-led executive search firm Buffkin / Baker has been selected by the University of West Georgia to lead in its search for a new president. Partner Ann Yates and associate Dinah DeWitt are leading the assignment. The presidency is an excellent opportunity for an engaging, visionary leader who is inspired to advance the university’s mission to enable students, faculty, and staff to realize their full potential through academic engagement, supportive services, professional development, and a caring, student-centered community, Buffkin / Baker explained. The president will evaluate the university’s academic enterprise and existing structure with an eye toward improvements that increase effectiveness and organizational agility while creating meaningful connections and dialogue.
“The president will strive to streamline processes and overcome obstacles that inhibit the ability of faculty and staff to capitalize on opportunities,” the search firm said. “The president will embrace technological advances, identify synergies, and drive initiatives that reward efficiencies and innovation.”
The university seeks a collaborative, transparent, servant leader dedicated to student success, innovative academic programming, and community engagement. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to the University of West Georgia’s mission, the ability to articulate an inspiring vision, and proven success in working collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders and partners. The University of West Georgia’s next president will be a highly visible, visionary leader, an engaged listener, an effective communicator, and an exceptional relationship builder.
The successful candidate will have experience managing the financial and budgetary operations of a complex organization, along with the creative thinking, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial skills necessary to address the university’s critical needs. Individuals with exemplary leadership experience in education, business, industry, government, the military, or other sectors are encouraged to apply and will be given full consideration.
Established in 1906, the University of West Georgia is located 40 miles west of Atlanta in Carrollton. Serving approximately 13,000 students, and offering more than 100 programs, the school is committed to advancing innovative academic programs and a student-centered business model. Perennially ranked by U.S. News & World Report, the Princeton Review, and Colleges of Distinction as a top national university, West Georgia offers 86 fields of study, including business, computing, nursing, education, STEM, communication and digital media, social sciences, and the fine and performing arts.
Specialty Boutique Search Firm
Buffkin / Baker is a specialty boutique search firm composed of industry leaders in their respective fields and each has over a decade of retained search experience. Their focus as search professionals is to recruit leaders in digital marketing/advertising, technology, healthcare, media/entertainment, finance, higher education, and non-profit. The firm serves public, private, venture, and private equity-backed companies. Its office locations include Nashville, TN; New York; Washington, D.C.; and Winston Salem, NC, with affiliate offices in London.
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Buffkin / Baker is a member of Panorama Search, an international federation of retained firms with 18 firms and over 30 offices globally. Buffkin / Baker formed in 2017 with the merger of the Buffkin Group and Baker and Associates LLC.
Craig Buffkin, the firm’s founder, serves as the managing partner, and as head of the private equity and transformation practices, where he is actively involved with client engagements and business development. He has completed search work at the board, executive and senior level both nationally and internationally for a wide range of private, public, venture-backed, and private equity-back companies.
Based in Winston Salem, NC, Martin Baker has been in executive search for more than 22 years. In addition to his role as managing partner, he is also head of the firm’s higher education practice. He previously worked in the Atlanta office of Korn Ferry, where he developed search strategy and executed searches for numerous senior-level appointments. He began his career as a research associate with Saxton Bampfylde, an executive search and management assessment firm in London. He has conducted searches for the positions of CEO, CFO, CIO, provost, dean, director, and professor, having worked on over 350 searches throughout his career.
Ms. Yates serves as a partner in the higher education practice. With a career spanning over two decades, her executive search career includes prior experience at two national executive search firms, most recently at ZRG Partners and before that at Witt/Kieffer where she served as a senior partner. Ms. Yates has completed more than 300 executive-level searches throughout her career, including engagements for presidents, provosts, deans, and vice presidents at leading public and private colleges and universities.
Ms. DeWitt joined Buffkin / Baker in 2023 and serves as an associate with the higher education practice. Her passion for higher education and recruiting was formed during her time at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, where she served as a member of the admissions and career management center teams, as well as a campus recruiter for the master of accountancy program.
Related: WittKieffer Recruits 7th President for Franklin Pierce University
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
