Finding the next Chancellor for Washington University in St. Louis will be a thorough and deliberative process that will involve individuals and entities from across the university. Although the Board will select the next Chancellor, the Board recognizes and values the critical importance of key stakeholder participation in the Chancellor search process. This critical role is reflected in the composition of the Search Committee, which is charged with presenting the Executive Committee of the Board with a recommended slate of the best-qualified candidates for their consideration. They will, in turn recommend a finalist to the Board.
The search will involve three linked stages that can be broadly understood as:
1) Definition,
2) Discovery,
3) Selection.
In the first stage, Definition, the search committee and the search firm, Isaacson, Miller, will hold a number of meetings with key stakeholders and constituencies, to understand the challenges and the opportunities facing the university and how the next chancellor may address them. Particular attention will be paid to the sorts of experiences and characteristics that would allow a new person to succeed in this role. The search committee will then review and approve a detailed position profile that will give prospective candidates a greater understanding of Washington University in St. Louis and will lay out a set of goals that the next Chancellor should plan to address. These goals will also help the search committee evaluate each candidate’s experiences.
In the next phase, Discovery, the search firm and the search committee will engage in an extensive recruitment effort across the country and internationally to attract a deep and diverse pool of candidates with the experience and skills to lead Washington University at this time of great momentum. The effort will also include fielding inquiries from applicants, and accepting nominations and suggestions from the university community. Nominations are encouraged and can be submitted here.
As the Selection phase begins, the search committee will winnow down the field of candidates based on the criteria in the job description. A group of candidates will be invited to meet with the committee for a formal interview and, from that group, the committee will select an even smaller group to meet with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. Extensive referencing will be done on each finalist and the Executive Committee will recommend their choice for the next Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis to the full board for a vote.
Throughout this process, the candidates will have an expectation that their interest in the job will be kept confidential so as to not endanger their current positions. The search committee, similarly, will keep their deliberations confidential. We ask that the community respect this need for confidentiality so that the committee can attract and select the best possible candidates to serve as the next Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis.
About the Search Firm: Isaacson, Miller
Washington University has retained the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. Our IM team is led by Chair and Founder John Isaacson and Principal Kate Barry with Senior Associate Matt Tzuker, who work in the firm’s Boston office. Isaacson, Miller was selected by the search committee after a vetting process that included the review of several search firms. This firm was chosen for its extensive experience in Chancellor searches with some of the country’s leading universities including Duke, the University of Virginia, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, University of California-Berkeley, Dartmouth and the University of California system, among many others. They also bring experience from several successful senior searches at Washington University.