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Committee launches UMass Amherst chancellor search

Committee chairman sees "dynamic new leader"

AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Search Committee held its first meeting today with committee Chairman Philip W. Johnston pledging an "open, thorough and energetic" search that would lead to the selection of a "dynamic new leader for the University's flagship campus."
               
"We have been given the serious responsibility of identifying candidates for the chancellorship of this campus and will play a critical role in selecting the next leader of UMass Amherst," Johnston told the students, alumni, faculty and Trustees serving on the 18-member chancellor search committee. 

Johnston is a UMass Trustee and UMass Amherst graduate and has held a variety of public service positions, including service in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and as state Secretary of Health and Human Services.       

The meeting began with James J. Karam, chairman of the UMass Board of Trustees, giving the committee its official charge, which was to convey the names of three or more finalist candidates to President Robert L. Caret and to the Board of Trustees, to do so over the next six to nine months if possible, and to seek "a strong, passionate leader who can articulate and follow through on a vision for UMass Amherst."

Karam thanked the members of the committee for stepping forward to serve, noting: "The members of this Committee know UMass Amherst well. You understand its history and traditions, you understand where it has been and where it is going and you have high hopes for its future. You know that UMass Amherst shapes Massachusetts and will help to define its future."

The University is seeking a successor to Chancellor Robert C. Holub, who has announced that he will step down at the end of the 2011-2012 academic year.

President Caret, who will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees after the search committee selects finalists, said: "We are seeking a leader who will take what is already an outstanding public research university and bring it to even higher levels of accomplishment and acclaim."

President Caret described the search as being "of critical importance to the campus, to the University system and to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

About the search: http://www.massachusetts.edu/amherstsearch/index.html

Contact:  Robert P. Connolly, 617.287.7073

9/28/11

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