The Presidential Search Committee has narrowed its set of candidates to a closely-guarded list of about 15 names. Though the list will likely change over the next few months, the committee is nearing the end of its first phase of examining possible choices.
The search committee, made up of trustee, faculty, student, and alumni representatives, has been considering over 100 nominations.
Isaacson, Miller, the executive search firm hired by Tufts to identify candidates, helped expedite the process. "The search firm has been invaluable, we couldn't have done it without them," said Linda Dixon, overseer and secretary to the corporation of the board of trustees.
"One of their incredibly important contributions was their contacts. They have incredibly well connected contacts... and they can get to some of those candidates and strike up a conversation where other people might not be able."
The committee is making steady progress, according to search committee member Lonnie Norris, dean of Tufts' dental school. "We've read the curriculum vitae of many people, and are currently screening candidates that we're starting to interview," he said.
Many members of the committee have expressed pride with the excellent candidate pool from which Tufts will ultimately choose. "The pool is exactly what we expected. High-profile people from political backgrounds, presidents of schools as prestigious as Tufts, and people with academic backgrounds," Norris said.
"Our goal is for someone that makes people say 'wow'. We want everyone to be proud and excited about the new president," faculty representative Cathy Squires said.
Up to 20 candidates will be interviewed, from which the committee will select five or six prospects to invite to a second round of interviews. Following the interviews, the pool will be narrowed to four or five candidates. The executive committee of the Board of Trustees will make the final decision.
Though the University reportedly enjoys a diverse candidate pool, Tufts has been in competition with other major universities since President John DiBiaggio announced his attention to step down next year. Brown and Harvard recently completed presidential searches, and New York University, Columbia, and Princeton are now looking to replace their departing presidents. But according to faculty following the Tufts search, there has been little overlap in candidates.
"The search committee is keeping abreast of issues that are going on in other searches, and we read with great interest about the search process at other schools," said Susanna Barry, the search committee staff representative and program administrator for the child development department.
"Tufts really is a unique place. I don't believe there's another school in the country that has our combination of schools," Dixon said. "Candidates interested in Tufts might not necessarily be interested in other schools. It's quite possible that, when candidates refuse, it's because they are interested in another school, but we really don't know."
Dixon said that Tufts is six months ahead of NYU and Columbia, which allowed Tufts to approach candidates first.
Tom Wright, the secretary of Princeton's search committee, said his efforts have not been affected by other presidential searches. "The fact that there are a number searches going on does not seem to be a substantial issue as far as Princeton's search is concerned," he said. "I think that the institutions are sufficiently different, and the pool of applicants is sufficiently diverse."
According to Norris, however, it is likely that other institutions have approached some Tufts candidates. "We're interested in high-profile people that many other high-caliber schools would also be interested in," he said.
Members of Tufts' search committee have been tight-lipped about the identities of the remaining candidates. And, according to committee members, Tufts will work to respect candidates' privacy throughout the search.
"The way I look at it is if I were doing a job search myself, I would not want my boss knowing what was going on," Barry said. "I would want confidentiality in my job search."
