Newsroom
Presidential Search Committee Set
The Occidental College Board of Trustees has named a search committee to identify candidates to succeed President Ted Mitchell, who announced last month that he will step down to become as president and CEO of the NewSchools Venture Fund on Sept. 1.
We have assembled a thoughtful, diverse committee from all college constituencies to conduct this national search,” said Catherine Selleck ’55, chair of the board of trustees and an ex-officio member of the committee. “The board believes that Occidental has never been a stronger position, and looks forward to a successful search for another outstanding president.”
In addition to Selleck, committee members are:
Trustees: David Berkus ’62, chair; John Farmer; Gary Findley ’76; Gene Grigsby ’66; Cathy Hagen Pepe ’64; Joel Sheldon ’66
Faculty: Regina Freer, Politics; Movindri Reddy, Diplomacy and World Affairs; Eileen Spain, Chemistry; Jim Whitney, Economics; Dale Wright, Religious Studies
Alumni: Chris Calkins ’67; Carl West ’73, president, Alumni Association Board of Governors
Students: Two members to be selected when classes resume in August
Parent: Lori Hunter ’79 P’08
Administration: Kim Stafford, Institutional Advancement
Staff: Rose Charelian, Facilities
Eagle Rock community: Hilary Norton-Orozco, The Eagle Rock Association
The committee is scheduled to meet for the first time this month to select a search firm with the goal of having a new president in place for the 2006-07 academic year.
During Mitchell’s six years as president, applications to Occidental set a new record each year even as the college maintained its status as the country's most diverse nationally ranked liberal arts college, according to U.S. News & World Report. Gifts to Occidental set a new record in 2004-05, rising to $20.9 million, more than twice the amount raised six years ago. Routinely drawing top ratings from national college guides, Occidental was twice named one of the hottest colleges in the country by Newsweek and by the Wall Street Journal as one of a handful of “colleges for a new era.”