Goodwin to lead 17-person search committee for WVU's new president

September 8th, 2006

Steve Goodwin, chairman of the West Virginia University Board of Governors, announced the search committee that will help select WVU s next president. The announcement was made at Fridays (Sept. 8) meeting of the WVU Board of Governors.

Goodwin also announced that one of the premiere presidential search firms in the country will assist the committee in the selection process.

The Board initiated the search following current president David C. Hardesty Jr.s recent announcement that he will retire next year, effective Sept. 20, 2007.

Goodwin will chair the search committee, which is charged with screening applications and developing a list of candidates for campus visits and consideration. The WVU Board of Governors will make the final selection, and plans to complete the process sometime in late spring.

The search for the next president of WVU is an extraordinarily important job,said Goodwin.The Universitys current success and prominence demand strong, effective leadership, and the committee will help to guide the national search for a president of top caliber.

According to Goodwin, the search committee represents members of WVU s many constituencies, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters. Besides Goodwin the committee will include Dr. Julian Bailes, Elizabeth Belch, Judge Irene Berger, Dr. James Brick, Meg Bulger, Joe D. Campbell, Dr. Thomas Clark, Dr. Parviz Farmouri, Stephen B. Farmer, Ron Justice, Douglas J. Leech, Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey, John T. Mattern, Terry Nebel, Joan Corson Stamp and Robert Wells.

The committee includes a broad and deep representation of the many facets of WVU ,said Goodwin.The full university community �€from faculty to students, from staff to administration, from donors to alumni �€will have a voice in this endeavor.

Goodwin said the Board today approved R. William Funk and Associates as the search firm to assist the committee.

William Funk is a nationally-recognized expert in executive recruiting, and has helped to recruit and place the current presidents of many of the countrys flagship and land-grant universities,Goodwin said. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education , Funk hasrecruited nearly a fourth of the sitting presidents of the nations top 60 research institutions and nine of the presidents of Big Ten systems or their flagship institutions.

The search for the president of a major university is extremely competitive,said Goodwin,and the expertise of a seasoned search executive like Funk will greatly assist the committee and the Board in identifying and recruiting the very best candidates.

West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) Chancellor, Brian Noland, will offer guidance and support to the committee as well.Dr. Nolands expertise will be a truly valuable asset to our success,said Goodwin.

The presidential search will begin by reaching well beyond the search committee and the Board, according to Goodwin. The committee will initiate the process later this fall by conducting interviews with diverse groups across the campus community to determine the skills, characteristics and experience necessary to lead WVU in the years ahead. The committee will then develop a position description and a set of criteria based on its research.

Goodwin says the committee will advertise and recruit nationally, and estimates that it will take several months to establish a pool of qualified candidates.

We will move immediately to begin the search,he said,but we will not rush the process of finding the best possible candidates. Once weve established our pool, we plan to interview candidates in early spring.

The WVU Board of Governors will make a final selection following the on-campus interviews. Goodwin says the Board plans to identify a new president by late spring �€in time for the new president to make a transition to Morgantown in mid-summer and begin a new tenure in September 2007.

Every member of the committee understands the scope of the responsibility we have been given,Goodwin said.And we are all committed to making the best possible decision for the future of West Virginia University.

The search committee membership announced today includes:

  • Stephen P. Goodwin , chair of the WVU Board of Governors, will chair the search/screening committee. A two-time WVU graduate, Goodwin is a Charleston attorney with the firm of Goodwin and Goodwin and a past chair of the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors.
  • Julian Bailes , M.D., is the Department of Neurosurgery chairman at WVU , and a specialist in cerebrovascular surgery, sports injuries and telemedicine. Dr. Bailes received his medical degree from Louisiana State University and completed his residency and advanced training at Northwestern University in Chicago and the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. He led the cerebrovascular surgery program at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh from 1988 to 1997. He was the Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services at both the city and county level in the Greater Orlando, Fla., area from 1998-2000, and has been the national neurological consultant for the National Football League Players Association since 1993. He is the Chairman of the Board of the West Virginia Health Information Network.
  • Elizabeth (Beth) Belch , a WVU senior from Uniontown, Pa., is the current vice president of the WVU Student Government Association. She is a dual major in International Studies and Political Science with a dual emphasis in Intelligence/National Security and Latin American Studies. Her minor is Spanish. Belch served as a Resident Assistant (RA) in Brooke Tower for two years.
  • The Honorable Irene Berger , West Virginia circuit court judge, is a WVU graduate and past chair of the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors, past member of the Law School Visiting Committee, the Social Justice Visiting committee, and the WVU Board of Advisors, and current member of the Student Affairs Visiting Committee. Berger currently resides in Cross Lanes, W.Va.
  • James Brick , M.D. is the E.B. Flink Professor in Medicine and chair of Internal Medicine at WVU . He is also founder of the Mountaineer Doctor Television (MDTV). Dr. Brick specializes in rheumatology, is a graduate of WVU and resides in Morgantown.
  • Meg Bulger is a student majoring in multi-disciplinary studies at WVU . She is from Pittsburgh, Pa. She is a member of the WVU womens basketball team, decorated with high school and collegiate records, Big East honors�€including BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and unanimous all-BIG EAST freshman team selection during her first year at WVU in 2003-04�€and multiple All-American honorable mentions.
  • Joe D. Campbell is a former member of the WVU Board of Governors and chair of the Boards Community and Technical College committee, as well as current member and past chairman of the WVU Parkersburg Board of Advisors. Campbell is an executive with WesBanco and resides in Parkersburg, W.Va. Campbell served as co-chair of the most recent WVU -Parkersburg campus presidential search and is a member of the Wood County WVU Extension Service Committee.
  • Thomas S. Clark , M.D., retired physician and WVU graduate and member of the WVU Board of Governors, has served on two School of Medicine dean search committees and chaired the search committee for the CEO of Monongalia General Hospital in Morgantown. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute and is retired as Vice President of Medical Affairs of Mylan Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Clark resides in Bruceton Mills, W. Va.
  • Parviz Famouri is chair of the WVU Faculty Senate and professor in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Famouri received a B.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from Kentucky State University in 1981. He earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Kentucky and joined West Virginia University in 1990. He and his students are the authors of over 80 scientific papers. He has served as Principal Investigator on projects worth over 4 million dollars for NSF , DoD, DoE, and NASA . He has been elected to the WVU Faculty Senate since 1997.
  • Stephen B. Farmer is a member of the WVU Board of Governors, a WVU graduate and an attorney at law with Farmer Cline&Campbell, PLLC in Charleston, W.Va.
  • Ron Justice is mayor of Morgantown, a double WVU graduate and assistant dean of students at WVU . He is currently serving his fifth straight term as Morgantown mayor and 16th straight year on Morgantown City Council.
  • Douglas J. Leech is a current member and immediate past chairman of the WVU Board of Governors and a former member of the College System of West Virginia Board of Directors. Leech is Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Centra Bank. He is a member of the board of directors of Mylan Laboratories, and serves on over 20 boards of directors. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and resides in Morgantown, W.Va.
  • John T. (Ted) Mattern is a member of the WVU Board of Governors and current Regional District Manager for Educational Testing Service (ETS). He has been Superintendent of Schools in Preston, Mingo and Upshur counties of West Virginia and has served as a Board Member of the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority, the Upshur County Development Authority and the Southern Community College Board.
  • Mary Ellen Mazey is Dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Geology and Geography. Dr. Mazey is a native of West Virginia and WVU graduate who returned to her alma mater in 2005 to head the institutions largest college. Dr. Mazey graduated with honors from WVU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a Master’s degree in Geology from WVU . Dr. Mazey completed her Ph.D. in Urban Geography from the University of Cincinnati.
  • Terry Nebel is a 17-year employee of WVU and is the Chair of the WVU Staff Council. Terry holds a B.A. from WVU and worked in Accounting Financial Systems as a Certified Professional Property Specialist prior to taking his current position to support the Director of Support Services in the Office of Information Technology.
  • Joan Corson Stamp is a WVU graduate and current member of the West Virginia University Foundation Board of Directors. She formerly served on the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the WVU College of Creative Arts Board of Visitors. She owns a small business in jewelry design, and resides in Wheeling, W.Va.
  • Robert Wells , a WVU graduate and vice chair of the WVU Board of Governors, is currently the Director of Legal Affairs for the International Physician Network, based in Baltimore, Md. He has significant experience in matters involving corporate governance. While a student at WVU , Wells was honored as a Truman Scholar. He has served several years on the WVU Political Science Visiting Committee and the WVU Student Affairs Visiting Committee.