Four Finalists Selected in Search for University of Memphis President
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 7, 2014) — The search advisory committee for a new president of the University of Memphis narrowed the candidate pool to four finalists yesterday.
They are:
- Guy Bailey, professor and former president at the University of Alabama and former president at Texas Tech University;
- Sharon Gaber, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas;
- George W. Hynd, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at the College of Charleston; and
- David Rudd, provost at the University of Memphis.
Each will visit the U of M campus between March 16-25 to meet with a variety of university constituent groups, including faculty and staff, students, alumni and the community.
“I believe everyone on the committee will agree that we had an impressive and well qualified pool of candidates from which to select these finalists,” said Greg Duckett, chairman of the committee and senior vice president and corporate counsel with Baptist Memorial Health Care System. “Our screening process was comprehensive and thorough, and we ended up with a short list of individuals who will have an opportunity to learn more about our campus, and give our constituents an opportunity to learn more about them, in the coming weeks. We look forward to their visits.”
A series of campus forums will take place in the University Center River Room #300. Open receptions for community members, alumni and friends of the university will be scheduled each evening. A detailed schedule for each finalist will be posted at www.tbr.edu and at www.memphis.edu/pressearch as soon as they are available.
The finalists were screened and selected by the committee from more than 70 applicants around the country. The committee worked with executive search firm Greenwood/Asher & Associates to identify a broad range of highly qualified candidates. Thirteen were invited to meet with the committee, and 10 were interviewed. The finalists were selected from that group. The finalists’ resumes are available on the presidential search websites.
The search committee’s charge is to interview and identify the finalists for the position of president. Committee members will also participate in the campus meetings and collect comments from constituents. Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan will gather feedback from the committee members and other sources and make the final selection for recommendation to the Board for approval within a few weeks after the campus visits.
The University of Memphis is one of Tennessee’s three comprehensive doctoral-extensive institutions of higher learning and one of the largest institutions of the Tennessee Board of Regents system. Awarding more than 4,000 degrees annually, U of M has 24 Chairs of Excellence, more than any other Tennessee university, and five state-approved Centers of Excellence.
The Tennessee Board of Regents is among the nation’s largest higher education systems, governing 46 post-secondary educational institutions. The TBR system includes six universities, 13 two-year colleges and 27 colleges of applied technology, providing programs across the state to more than 200,000 students.
