Wright State hires firm to assist with presidential search

Wright State University will partner with Academic Search, an executive search firm specializing in higher education, to help the university select its seventh president.

Academic Search was selected by Wright State’s Presidential Search and Screening Advisory Committee, which is charged with conducting the national presidential search.

David R. Hopkins — who led Wright State during a campus expansion, record levels of enrollment and fundraising and national recognition for community service and being disability and military friendly — will retire as president when his contract expires June 30, 2017.

“The selection of a highly qualified search firm is a significant milestone in our search, and we couldn’t be happier to have Academic Search as our partner,” said Doug Fecher, chair of the Search and Screening Advisory Committee. “Members of our search committee were thorough and thoughtful in conducting a competitive process, and Academic Search was the consensus choice of the committee. We are excited to get started with the next phase of our search.”

Academic Search’s role in the search will include assisting the Search and Screening Advisory Committee finalize its search plan, set a timeline, develop a thorough profile of the next president and identify candidates for the committee to interview for the position.

The committee, which includes more than 20 representatives of the university Board of Trustees, students, faculty, staff, deans, retirees and alumni as well as Dayton-area community members, began meeting in June.

Carol Loranger, faculty president and a member of the committee work group charged with vetting search firms, said the group was impressed with Academic Search’s experience working with other Ohio colleges, including 16 searches for 10 different institutions in the state. The work group also highlighted Academic Search’s strong commitment to diversity as a reason for selecting the firm.

The firm has completed more than 380 executive searches for higher education institutions and related organizations for positions ranging from deans to provosts to presidents within the last five years.

“Academic Search has a long history of successful executive searches in higher education,” Loranger said.

Founded in 1976, Academic Search is an executive search firm dedicated to serving higher education institutions and related organizations. The firm is based in Washington, D.C.

The Search and Screening Advisory Committee will hold a symposium at Wright State to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing higher education in Ohio in the next five to 10 years. The symposium will be held in October and will be open to the public. The date of the symposium will be announced soon.

More information on Wright State’s presidential search is available at wright.edu/presidential-search.