The last time the University embarked on a search for a president, then-Chancellor Stephen Robert '62 P'91 told The Herald that the Corporation's Presidential Search Committee brought two vital strengths to the table: diversity and competence.
Eleven years later, those two strengths were once again key factors in assembling the Corporation committee charged with finding the next president, according to Chancellor Thomas Tisch '76, who chairs the committee.
"We wanted to have a committee that had a variety of perspectives and had the capacity to help carry the entirety of the Brown community," Tisch said, adding that there was also "an emphasis on people that had fundamentally great judgment."
Committee members include alums from the 1960s through 1990s, a fact Tisch said he was "very proud of." Of the 16 committee members, only three graduated Brown during the '80s or '90s.
Roughly half of the committee members have worked in finance, which Tisch said did not influence the selection and may simply reflect "where the world has been" in recent years. Roughly half of all members of the Corporation, the University's highest governing body, have some background in finance.
President Ruth Simmons' departure at the end of this academic year will mark the departure of the first black university president in the Ivy League and one of its first female presidents. But Tisch said he does not think Simmons is defined by either her race or gender.
"When I see Ruth Simmons, I see a great president," Tisch said. "I see an extraordinary leader."
Tisch would not comment on whether race or gender would be considered, though he said the committee is interested in identifying "the combination of skills and style and temperament that we need to meet the challenges of the future."
Three members of the committee are not white, while half its members are female and half are male. But Tisch said he did not think any committee member acts "as a representative" for any particular group.
Other members of the committee are bound by confidentiality agreements and were unable to speak to The Herald.
Throughout the search process, the University will work with professional search firm Spencer Stuart, led by Jennifer Bol and Michele Haertel.
Collectively, Bol and Haertel have worked with Boston University, Cornell, Columbia, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wesleyan University. They have also worked with preparatory schools such as Choate Rosemary Hall, Hotchkiss School and Philips Exeter Academy.
Bol and Haertel are unable to comment on ongoing searches, James Horton, spokesman for Spencer Stuart, wrote in an email to The Herald.
