Carnegie Mellon University

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December 15, 2011

Presidential Search — Message from Ray Lane, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

The following letter was sent on Monday, Dec. 12.

Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community:

As most of you are aware, Jared Cohon has announced his intention to step down as Carnegie Mellon's President on June 30, 2013. By that time, he will have served the university for 16 years, an extraordinary accomplishment in higher education today. Jerry has led this university to unprecedented global growth, and rise in global prestige, academic and financial strength, and has done so during some of the most turbulent economic times in history. He will leave behind an historic legacy of transformation of our university when he steps down at the end of the next academic year.


Of the many duties of the university's Board of Trustees, its most important responsibility is the selection and appointment of the President. When the Board of Trustees met last month, we discussed the process that we will go through to search for Jerry's successor. In light of those discussions, I wanted to provide you with an overview of how the process will unfold.


As has been Carnegie Mellon's past practice, the board will discharge its responsibility for selection of the President primarily in partnership with the faculty, though other representatives of the CMU community will be consulted during the process. A search committee will be formed that includes current members of the Board of Trustees and members of the faculty. We anticipate naming the members of the committee in February 2012. 


In keeping with the stature of the university, we will conduct an international search. The university committee will be assisted by a professional search firm in order that we identify and assess the best possible candidates. We will also reach out broadly to all constituents of the university community for both candidate nominations as well as input on your ambitions for the future of the university and the related challenges we face. You can expect to see these activities begin internally next semester (spring 2012) and the search launched publicly next fall, with the intention to complete the search in spring 2013.


We are fortunate to have Jerry Cohon's exceptional leadership to continue guiding Carnegie Mellon through that time. The future of this university is bright and the opportunities are endless. We look forward to your participation as the process begins and the next chapter of the university's history unfolds.


Sincerely,

 
Raymond J. Lane
Chairman of the Board
Carnegie Mellon University