Specialized Resources
Dear Members of the Connecticut College Community,
After receiving proposals from five top search firms in higher education and interviewing two finalists, the Presidential Search Committee is pleased to announce we have selected WittKieffer to help us identify the College's 12th president. The Search Committee believes that WittKieffer knows the College well and brings an excellent track record in presidential searches.
In business for more than 50 years, WittKieffer is a premier executive search and leadership advisory firm specializing in higher education. Annually, WittKieffer conducts approximately 200 leadership searches in higher education, including for liberal arts colleges. In the last five years alone, they have completed more than 100 presidential searches for colleges and universities across the country. WittKieffer has a track record of placing a diverse range of leaders through its higher education searches. We appreciate WittKieffer’s engagement with our Search Committee and their approach to engaging the broader campus community during the search process. The WittKieffer team that will partner with Connecticut College brings deep experience and includes Charlene L. Aguilar, principal; Darrien Davenport, consultant; Lucy Leske, senior partner and Sheila Murphy, consultant. Visit wittkieffer.com to learn more.
We have already begun to work with WittKieffer to define a process to ensure that a cross-section of the College's constituents -- senior administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents and other friends and supporters -- will have the opportunity to provide input that informs the position description for our 12th president. The Search Committee will provide the campus community with a variety of opportunities to share their views on qualities to seek in candidates and to nominate individuals.
As a first step, we have created a section on the College’s website to keep the Conn community informed throughout the search process. The site includes a timeline, information about the Search Committee and the WittKieffer team, updates on the progress of the search and a form for the Conn community to provide suggestions and nominate candidates. All nominees from the Conn community will be presented to our search firm, but nominees will not be told the name of the person who made the nomination. You do not need to know someone personally to suggest them for consideration. Please use the form to send the names, titles and email addresses (if you know them) of people who you would like to nominate for consideration.
This search is the most important leadership recruitment for our College. The opportunities as well as challenges in higher education today are significant. WittKieffer is aware of the College’s goals and needs as well as our institutional mission and ideals. Our next president will be an accomplished, skilled and dedicated leader who will further our College’s mission and values as a top liberal arts institution.
Cordially,
Debo P. Adegbile ’91
Chair, Board of Trustees and Committee Co-Chair
Maria Wyckoff Boyce ’85
Member, Board of Trustees and Committee Co-Chair