Presidential
search report
| The presidential
search committee has largely completed the first part of the search.
Last winter we drafted a “case statement,” which is available
here or from the search committee office (president.search@reed.edu,
503/775-0958). The case statement was designed to make the nature
of Reed clear to possible candidates and to those who might suggest
possible candidates. It has been well received in the academic community
around the country. Then we asked presidents of colleges, foundation people, and prominent academics to suggest people who might make a good president for Reed, and who might be interested. We developed a list of Reed graduates who are in the academic world and we asked them for suggestions. We asked members of the National Academy of Science for suggestions. The result was a rich list. We wrote to all those who were suggested, asking them if they were interested. Most replied that they were and submitted material supporting their candidacy. The search committee read all the materials and selected a smaller number of leading candidates. Small groups of committee members are visiting these people at their campuses. The committee hopes to have finished making these visits in the next few weeks. At that time, we will invite a few people to meet with the full committee. We hope to finish with that phase of the search by the end of the calendar year. Then we will select two to four finalists who will visit the campus and meet with all of the community publicly. The committee will collect comments on these finalists from everyone. Ten years ago, when we carried out the search that resultedin Steve Koblik’s coming to Reed, these comments played a very important role in our final decision. |
I am often asked about the search—how
is it going, how does it compare with the search 10 years ago, etc.
This search is NOT easier than the last one. Reed was a little bit
ragged 10 years ago, and we are not now. But the job is no easier.
There are only a few people in the country who could be president
of Reed. It is not easy to find them. We have found several wonderful
candidates, but we have a great deal to learn about them, and they
have a great deal to learn about us, before we (or they) can make
a decision. The faculty members on the committee have given up vacations
and weekends, taken red-eye flights across the country, and done a
wonderful job of scrutinizing candidates. Their judgments will weigh
heavily in interim decisions and the final selection. From the point
of view of a trustee, the time spent with the Reed faculty is one
of the rewards of the effort. The other, of course, is finding a person
who will understand Reed and who will help us to continue the progress
of recent years.  |
-Stephen McCarthy ’66, chair,
presidential search committee,
and vice chairman, Reed board of trustees
