Presidential search
Rector Todd A. Stottlemyer ’85 sent the following message to the campus community April 11, 2017 - Ed.
Dear William & Mary Community,
As you know, last week President Taylor Reveley announced plans to retire on June 30, 2018. Under Taylor’s leadership, William & Mary has made tremendous progress as a university. Our financial foundation is stronger, our curriculum more versatile, our facilities ready to carry us into the 21st century, and our increasingly diverse community is united through shared pride in William & Mary. It will be no small challenge for the Board of Visitors to find a successor of Taylor’s caliber.
Finding the right leader as William & Mary’s 28th president is vital to W&M’s continuing success in the 21st century. It is the most important responsibility for any board. To that end, I have appointed a 19-member committee to conduct a national search. Chaired by Vice Rector H. Thomas Watkins III ’74, the Committee is comprised of representatives from across the university community. It includes Board members that have held many leadership positions as well as faculty and staff members, a recent graduate, and a current student leader.
The Committee’s work begins immediately. The Committee will host three initial campus forums next week to listen to the William & Mary community and hear your thoughts on the next president of the Alma Mater of the Nation. The forums will be held on Wednesday, April 19, as follows:
10:00-11:30 a.m. Discussion with staff – Commonwealth Auditorium
2:15-3:45 p.m. Discussion with faculty – Commonwealth Auditorium
8:15-9:45 p.m. Discussion with students – ISC-III Room 1221
Leadership groups both on and off campus will also have opportunities to share their thoughts throughout the early summer.
The first meeting of the Search Committee will be Friday, April 21, at 1:00 p.m. in the Board Room.
A newly launched search website, www.wm.edu/presidentialsearch, includes information about members of the Committee, a planning schedule, and an online feedback form. More information will be added as the process continues.
Cheryl Corvello will serve as the Administrative Assistant to the Search Committee. Cheryl is a veteran of campus searches. She worked on the last presidential search, and also on the searches for the Provost and the Vice President for Student Affairs. She will begin work on behalf of the Committee this week, and her office will be set up in the Board Conference Room in Blow Hall by the end of the month. Cheryl’s e-mail is ccorv@wm.edu.
Your input is important to the Committee, so I hope you will engage by attending a campus forum, using the online form, or by emailing your thoughts to presidentialsearch@wm.edu.
Todd A. Stottlemyer ’85
Rector of the College