In October the Board of Trustees named a presidential search committee, the first step in the process to find Marx’s successor.

Board of Trustees Chairman Jide Zeitlin ’85 chairs the 16-member committee, whose members include trustees Bill Ford ’83, John Middleton ’77, Cullen Murphy ’74 and Laura Yerkovich ’80; professors Steve George, John Servos and Martha Umphrey; staff members Suzanne Coffey and Kate Wellspring; alumni Joe Quinn ’69 and Ana Salas Siegel ’91; and students Isaac Cameron ’11 and Samia K. Hesni ’11. Kevin Conway '80, Chuck Longsworth ’51, Mary Pat McPherson, Andy Nussbaum ’85 and Diana Chapman Walsh will serve “of counsel,” advising the committee informally. The final decision on a new president resides with the Board of Trustees. The executive recruiting firm Isaacson, Miller will assist the committee and the board in the search.

The search committee, which has already met, will now solicit input (both online and in person) from the Amherst community on the characteristics and values that would best define Amherst’s next president. Later in the process the committee will solicit online nominations for specific candidates.

The committee can be reached at pressearch@amherst.edu. Or go to www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/presidential_search.