WittKieffer Helps Recruit 22nd President for Rutgers University
May 21, 2025 – Oak Brook-IL-based WittKieffer has assisted in the recruitment of renowned social scientist William F. Tate as the 22nd president of Rutgers University. Jonathan Holloway announced that he would step down on June 30, 2025. Zachary Smith, Robin Mamlet, and Christine Pendleton led the assignment. Mr. Tate’s selection as president follows the efforts of a 20-member presidential search committee, which convened last fall and represented a cross-section of Rutgers’ diverse campuses and constituencies, including students, staff, faculty, alumni and community partners.
“When the presidential search committee began the search for Rutgers’ next president, with community input, we sought a transformative leader who embodies Rutgers’ values and our multi-campus identity – someone who is intentional, collaborative and unafraid to think big – someone who understands well the broad, higher education environment and sees the unique opportunities for Rutgers to succeed through it all,” said board of governors chair Amy L. Towers. “Dr. Tate is that extraordinary leader, a scholar, an innovator and a transformative force whose vision will unite academic excellence with public impact. I am confident that Dr. Tate’s strategic vision and approach to leadership make him very much the right leader at the right moment for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.”
“Dr. Tate has enthusiasm for creating excellence in academics, research, and clinical care,” said board of trustees chair Amy Mansue. “Rutgers will continue to excel under Dr. Tate’s leadership, in service both to New Jersey and to our nation. We welcome this next era in our great history.”
Dr. Tate, who also serves as the chief executive and academic officer of both the LSU system and the LSU flagship campus in Baton Rouge, holds faculty appointments in sociology, psychiatry and behavioral medicine, epidemiology, and population and public health at the Baton Rouge campus, LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
As LSU president, Dr. Tate has provided overall leadership, vision, and direction for all of the campuses across Louisiana. The LSU system has more than 55,000 students, including 12,000 graduate students and 2,000 professional students in the university health centers. Like Rutgers, LSU is a member of one of the five most prominent conferences in college athletics – LSU in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Rutgers in the Big Ten Conference.
Before joining LSU, Dr. Tate served as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina (UofSC), where he also held the education foundation distinguished university professorship. Prior to that, he served as a department chair and dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education at Washington University in St. Louis from 2002 to 2020. In addition, Dr. Tate held the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professorship in Arts & Sciences. Before joining Washington University in St. Louis, he served as the William L. and Betty F. Adams Chair at Texas Christian University (TCU) and as a tenured faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I am honored to join the Rutgers family, where the Rutgers Edge is more than a concept,” said Dr. Tate. “It is reflected in a history of leading with outstanding research, clinical excellence, insightful pedagogy, innovative partnerships and storied athletic feats. Together, we have an opportunity to align our efforts and push to greater levels of impact. We can compete and win at new heights if we work together.”
Nation’s Eighth Oldest College
Founded in 1766, Rutgers is the nation’s eighth oldest college. Rutgers University-New Brunswick is the flagship campus, with an enrollment of more than 42,000 students (about 33,650 undergraduates and 8,600 graduate students). The school employs about 10,000 full- and part-time faculty and staff. Its annual budget is upwards of $1.7 billion.
Related: WittKieffer Seeking Chief Diversity Officer for Brandeis University
In 2020, Rutgers used Funk Associates to recruit Mr. Holloway as the first black president of Rutgers University. He was selected from a pool of more than 300 applicants.
WittKieffer assists hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, medical schools, and physician groups; biotech, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and medical device companies; colleges and universities, and not-for-profit community service and cultural organizations with senior administrative recruiting assignments. With more than 100 search professionals nationwide, its consultants recruit CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CNOs, physician executives, and other leaders.
WittKieffer Recruits CHRO for the University of Tampa
WittKieffer has assisted in the recruitment of Michael Hill as vice president for human resources and CHRO of the University of Tampa (UTampa). Principal Sarah Palmer led the assignment along with consultant Ashlee Winters Musser. Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg, president of UTampa, said she was impressed by Mr. Hill’s leadership experience, and his experience aligning human resources policies with strategic goals. “Mike’s experience advising university presidents and boards of trustees, along with his commitment to develop leadership skills at all levels across the university, will serve UTampa well,” she said. “I look forward to his insight in effectively aligning HR policies with the university’s strategic goals.”
As a higher education administrator and search consultant for two decades, Dr. Smith leverages a breadth of organizational and leadership experience in delivering service and results for his clients. Based in Irvine, CA, he conducts searches for senior executives within education, healthcare and the nonprofit sector. Dr. Smith has supported and led presidential searches for AAU, research, regional comprehensive, polytechnic and liberal arts institutions. He has also supported executive leadership searches for a broad range of public and private universities and healthcare organizations, in areas ranging from advancement to athletics to finance.
Ms. Mamlet, based in Philadelphia, is a nationally renowned executive search professional and former WittKieffer managing partner. She focuses her time on working with governing boards, senior leadership teams and search committees in searches for presidents, provosts, vice presidents and deans for many of the firm’s most valued clients both in the U.S. and around the world. A national leader on access and diversity recruitment, she joined WittKieffer after 23 years in academic administration, most recently as dean of admission and financial aid at Stanford University.
Ms. Pendleton, who works out of WittKieffer’s Oak Brook office, joined the firm in 2014. She works to identify presidents, chancellors, provosts, vice presidents, deans, and chief diversity officers on behalf of public and private universities and colleges and other senior leaders in non-profit organizations. She is a member of the firm’s diversity council and director of its community fund.
Related: Villanova University Retains WittKieffer to Find VP for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
