To the Members of the Barnard College Community:
As a follow-on to my July 21 message, I want to reach out as we launch the important work of finding a successor to President Sian Beilock, who will step down at the end of June 2023 after six years of exemplary service to the College. We owe President Beilock an enormous debt of gratitude, and, in the coming months, we will be planning the appropriate send-off in order to celebrate her tenure with the entire campus community.
I was fortunate to co-chair the Search Committee that selected President Beilock, so I know from experience that a presidential search can be a challenging and rewarding venture. It is also an unparalleled opportunity to reflect on Barnard’s accomplishments and consider how best to approach the College’s future with our history and mission in mind. I look forward to working together in this pursuit.
To begin, I am pleased to report that Ina Drew P’13, Vice Chair of the Board, and Ann Sacher ’85 have agreed to lead the Search Committee for the College’s ninth president. Laura Blankfein ’75, Bill Helman P’14, Marcia Lynn Sells ’81, P’23, Caroline Bliss Spencer ’09, and Diana Vagelos ’55 will also serve on the Committee and represent the Board, along with trustee emerita and chair emerita Jolyne Caruso-FitzGerald ’81. Jolyne played a leading role during the past two Barnard presidential searches, and we are so grateful to once again have her support. I will join the Search Committee in my capacity as Chair of the Board.
Now that the fall semester has formally begun, and faculty and students are back on campus, we will work to select the student, staff, and faculty representatives who will join the Committee. By September 23rd, we expect to have all the members of the Committee confirmed. At that time, a follow-up email will be sent to the Barnard community with the full list of Committee members, along with additional updates about the search.
I am also happy to announce that, following a series of meetings with several search firms over the course of the past few weeks, we have retained Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading global executive search and assessment firm, to assist the Committee with the search for Barnard’s ninth president and to lead our recruitment efforts. The firm’s experience in leading searches for university presidents, combined with their deep understanding of the higher education landscape, and the superb team (Anne Coyle, Jamie Hechinger, Jack “Rusty” O’Kelley, and Steve Newton) that will work with us are among the reasons we are confident they will precisely support our efforts in developing an exceptional list of candidates and will expertly guide our process for selecting the best finalists for the role of our next president.
To ensure a successful start to the search process, we are counting on the assistance of every member of the Barnard community. We will be holding a series of listening sessions on Tuesday, October 11th, and Wednesday, October 12th so that we can hear your thoughts and ideas. More information about the listening sessions can be found online at the presidential search website. Thank you in advance for your participation in the listening sessions and your important contribution to this process.
Working with the team at Russell Reynolds, we have created a new email address where you can share with us the names of candidates whom you believe speak to Barnard’s mission and values and could lead the College into the future. I invite you to direct your nominations to Barnard@RussellReynolds.com. My thanks to those who have previously sent in feedback via the PresidentialSearch@Barnard.edu email address. Should you have any follow-up nominations, feel free to direct them to Barnard@RussellReynolds.com moving forward, and please encourage others to send in their nominations as well.
In the meantime, Ina, Ann, and I thank you for all of your support as we move through this significant and exciting time for the College. And, on behalf of the Board, we underscore our special thanks to President Beilock for setting a very high bar as we begin to look for her successor.
Most sincerely,
Cheryl Glicker Milstein ’82, P’14
Chair, Board of Trustees