ANN ARBOR, MI - Regents, alumni, faculty, students and more make up the new University of Michigan search committee for a president to replace Mark Schlissel.
Regents Sarah Hubbard and Denise Ilitch, co-chairs of the committee, announced the committee’s formation in a Feb. 8 message to the UM community. The Boston-based Isaacson, Miller firm will assist the university with finding the new executive, according to a UM website.
The search committee, which also includes members of UM’s Dearborn and Flint campuses, is “widely representative of our diverse university community,” Hubbard wrote in the message.
“We are grateful for their willingness to engage in this important work,” Hubbard said.
The importance of the UM presidency in all of higher education makes this committee’s work that much more important, Ilitch said.
“The committee’s work will rely on the university community’s insight into the challenges and opportunities that may face our university and its new president in the coming decade, as well as the personal characteristics and experiences needed to lead the university at this moment in time,” she said.
The committee consists of the eight regents and these members of the UM community:
- Lizabeth Ardisana, alumna and CEO of Dearborn-based PR firm ASG Renaissance
- Ketra Armstrong, professor of kinesiology and women’s and gender studies
- Brandon Bond, graduate student in the public health and social work schools
- John M. Carethers, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine
- Tabbye M. Chavous, program director of National Center for Institutional Diversity and professor of education
- Colleen Conway, professor of music education
- Sharon Glotzer, chair of the chemical engineering department in the College of Engineering
- Kirsten Herold, a lecturer and president of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization
- Mike Jandernoa, alumnus and former CEO and board chairman of Dublin-based wellness product brand Perrigo Co.
- Paul Lee, chair of the Department of Ophtalmalogy
- Alison Narayan, life sciences professor and associate professor of chemistry
- Will Sherry, director of Spectrum Center and interim director of strategic initiatives in the Office of Student Life
- Huda Shulaiba, undergraduate student in the School of Information.
- Michael Solomon, dean of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies and vice provost for academic affairs-graduate studies
- DeLean Tolbert Smith, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at UM-Dearborn
- Hiba Wehbe-Alamah, professor of nursing at UM-Flint
- Kaaren M. Williamsen, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center
The UM Board of Regents removed Schlissel for cause in mid-January for his engagement in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. His contract entitles him to stay at UM as a tenured faculty member, UM officials said, and he is is still listed as a professor of molecular, cellular and development biology, according to a university website.
Read more: Mark Schlissel could stick around University of Michigan as a tenured faculty member
Former UM President Mary Sue Coleman replaced Schlissel on an interim basis and will stay until a new president is hired. The hope is to find a new president as early as this summer, officials said.
The committee also seeks community input in two ways. The first is a survey to identify the preferred values and attributes of the next president. The survey can be found here.
The second are a series of virtual town hall sessions over Zoom for committee members and Isaacson, Miller to hear from community members. The links to the Zoom sessions can be found here.
The Zoom sessions are:
- Feb. 16 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. with a UM-Flint focus.
- Feb. 18 from noon-1 p.m. with an Ann Arbor faculty focus.
- Feb. 18 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. with an Ann Arbor staff focus.
- Feb. 21 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. with a Michigan Medicine/Medical School focus.
- Feb. 22 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. with an Ann Arbor student focus.
- Feb. 23 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. with a UM-Dearborn focus.
While the sessions are meant to focus on a specific UM community, anyone may attend them, officials said. University community members can also submit confidential nominations and applications for president here.
Read more from The Ann Arbor News:
University of Michigan fires president for inappropriate relationship with employee
$490M settlement reached between Dr. Anderson survivors, University of Michigan
Timeline of the Dr. Robert Anderson abuse scandal at University of Michigan
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