DavidsonNews.net

The hunt for a new president at Davidson College is getting into high gear as a search committee narrows the field in hopes of announcing a successor later this spring.

Bobby Vagt (right), a 1969 graduate of Davidson, has led the college for 10 years. He announced last June that he would leave at the end of this school year.

In a letter to the Board of Trustees announcing his decision, he wrote, “A part of my responsibility is to recognize when a change in leadership is best for the college.” He asked that this academic year be used to search for a successor. He is scheduled to depart in June.

The college has been hard at work to find a replacement for the popular president. Last August, the board of trustees appointed 1962 grad Paul R. Leonard to lead a committee to search for Dr. Vagt’s successor.

Since then, the committee has adhered closely to Davidson’s constitution, which requires the search process to include input from students, staff, and college faculty. According to Mr. Leonard, the committee includes seven trustees, two staff members, three students, and five faculty members.

In late September, Mr. Leonard announced that the committee had decided to hire a national executive search firm to help in the search. By October, the committee had picked Presidio Executive Search of San Francisco. In an Oct. 19 article on the Davidson College website, Mr. Leonard said Lisa Prigohzy-Milius of Presidio Executive Search would “be a full partner with the search committee, sitting on the same side of the table as us.”

The search has continued through the past few months. In November, the search committee wrote a prospectus describing the current status of the college and the characteristics it desires in its new president. The prospectus is available on the college website; to read CLICK HERE> (Requires Adobe Reader software.)

After placing advertisements in The New York Times and other periodicals, and asking students, staff, and faculty, for nominations, the committee had numerous choices to begin interviewing in mid-December.

On Jan. 18, the committee met again to discuss candidates already interviewed, as well as new nominees. The candidates’ names are a closely held secret.

The search committee hopes to have a replacement by the time Vagt departs, sometime after this May’s commencement.

Davidson has posted occasional updates about the search on the college Website. To read more, CLICK HERE>

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