Rutgers announces search committee for new president, asks for community input

The University Board of Governors has begun its search for University President Robert L. Barchi’s successor, with an announcement for the Rutgers community to give its input. The members of the official search committee have also been announced. 

The committee is asking for University constituents to submit who or what they recommend for Rutgers’ 21st president, either through email or at a town hall to be held on all three campuses within the next month or two, according to a University release. 

The committee will feature members of the Board of Governors, the Board of Trustees, administrators, faculty and one graduate and undergraduate student, according to the release. 

Mark Angelson, chair of the Board of Governors, will head the committee along with Deborah Gray White, Board of Governors professor of history and professor of women's and gender studies in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University—New Brunswick, and William Best, a Board of Governors member and former chair of the Board of Trustees and emeritus trustee, according to the release. 

The undergraduate student on the committee is Mansi Shah, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and presidential scholar. The graduate student on the committee is Nicole Lema of the School of Management and Labor Relations. 

The University will also be consulting with R. William Funk & Associates — an executive search firm specializing in higher education — to conduct the search, according to the release.

“In the search for Dr. Robert Barchi’s successor, we seek another talented and visionary leader who will build upon Rutgers’ past progress and successfully shepherd the University toward a future with an abundance of opportunities and challenges,” Angelson said, according to the release. 

Earlier this summer, The Daily Targum reported that Barchi announced that he will step down in June 2020 to return as a professor. 

“Under his leadership, Rutgers has become academically stronger and more diverse. It has extended its outreach across New Jersey and around the world. Capital construction totaled $2.5 billion during his presidency and multiple improvements to Rutgers’ financial and administrative operations have been instituted. Most importantly, Rutgers has solidified its reputation as an internationally renowned, comprehensive public research university,” according to an email to the Rutgers community. 

The committee plans on appointing the University’s next president sometime in early 2020, according to the committee’s website.