Bates College announces 19-member Presidential Search Committee

Bates College has announced a 19-member Presidential Search Committee to identify and recommend to the Board of Trustees the next president of the college.

“The members of the committee — faculty, staff, students, and trustees, including eight who are alumni and four who are Bates parents — bring a broad spectrum of experience, expertise, and perspective to the work of searching for Bates’ ninth president,” said committee co-chairs and Bates trustees Andrea Conklin Bueschel ’90 and Gregory Ehret ’91 in an announcement to the Bates community on Sept. 29. 

“We look forward to working with them over the coming months, and thank them for their willingness to serve the college in this important capacity.”

The college’s next president, its ninth since Bates’ 1855 founding, will succeed President Clayton Spencer, who announced earlier in the year that she will step down on June 30, 2023.

Presidential Search Website

The Presidential Search website explains the process of identifying, selecting, and appointing the ninth president of Bates College, including a timeline, opportunities for community input, and brief bios of the members of the Presidential Search Committee. 

Charged with conducting an “active, expansive, and inclusive search” and seeking and considering “the perspectives of the Bates community about what it needs and desires in the next president,” the Presidential Search Committee will be assisted in its work by the firm Isaacson, Miller and receive administrative support from Jennifer Blanchard, senior writer and director of presidential initiatives, and Michael Hussey, vice president for institutional affairs and secretary to the Bates College Board of Trustees. 

“While the search committee will take the lead in identifying Bates’ next president, the success of the process is very much dependent on the perspectives of all members of the Bates community as we consider what will matter most to the college in the years ahead and what qualities we should look for in our next president,” said the co-chairs.

Isaacson, Miller is now conducting a series of in-person and online listening sessions for campus constituencies. In addition, the committee invites feedback and comments through this survey, which is open to all members of the Bates community, and also via a dedicated email account, presidentialsearch@bates.edu.

The collective feedback will inform the next phase of the search and the development of a Leadership Profile that articulates the opportunities that await, as well as the qualities the college community seeks, in the next president of Bates College.

Members of the 2022–23 Bates College Presidential Search Committee

Andrea Conklin Bueschel ’90, Trustee (co-chair)

Gregory Ehret ’91, P’23, Trustee (co-chair)

John Baughman, Associate Professor of Politics

Geri FitzGerald ’75, Trustee Emerita

Aydan Gedeon-Hope ’25, Student

John Gillespie ’80, P’13, P’18, Chair, Board of Trustees

Evelynn Hammonds, L.H.D. ’11, Trustee

Faith Hauger, Administrative Coordinator for Student Affairs

David Longdon ’14, Trustee

Alexandra Manning ’23, Student

Lance Matthiesen ’85, Trustee

Charles Nero, Benjamin E. Mays ’20 Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies

Katy Ott, Associate Professor of Mathematics

Stacey Rizza P’20, Trustee

Michelle Rosenberg ’94, Trustee

Christine Schwartz, Associate Vice President for Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events

Anelise Shrout, Assistant Professor of Digital and Computational Studies

Darryl Uy, Director of Admission

Jean Wilson ’81, P’05, P’13, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

Special advisor to the committee:
Scott Bierman ’77, Trustee Emeritus and President of Beloit College