American University seeks a Provost to join its new President, Cornelius Kerwin, in continuing American University’s ascent among the ranks of the nation’s top universities.
On November 6, 2007, President Kerwin appointed a search committee of faculty, staff and students, and charged it with initiating a search for a new Provost. The committee’s charge is to assemble the best possible pool of candidates, to critically assess their experience and qualifications, to bring to campus a small group of finalists, and to make recommendations to President Kerwin. We are assisted in this undertaking by Dr. Jean Dowdall, one of the nation’s leading academic search consultants, and by her associate, Mr. Edward Robinson.
Our goal is to identify an intermediate pool of 8-12 candidates with whom we will conduct “airport” interviews mid-March. Based on these interviews, we will then invite a small group of finalists to campus in late March and early April, at which time they will have an opportunity to meet with faculty, students and staff. Following the campus visits, the Search committee will make its recommendations to President Kerwin, who will, with the approval of the Board of Trustees, negotiate terms and extend an offer.
Our committee is pledged to conduct this search with a high degree of transparency. Members of the search committee have already met with many faculty, staff and students, informing them about the search and seeking their advice. This website is part of our committee’s continuing effort to keep the campus community fully abreast of the progress of the search and to invite its continued participation. It includes information about the Search Committee, the Search Firm (Witt Kieffer), the duties of the Provost and the Timeline for the search. We will also post updates here from time to time.
Please feel free to contact any member of the search committee with questions or suggestions you might have regarding the search. Please contact any member of the search committee or the search firm to nominate or recommend possible candidates.
Robert Griffith
Chair, Provost Search Committee
ProvostSearch@american.edu