Tufts' presidential search committee is determined to choose University President's John DiBiaggio's successor before the end of the academic year, according to various committee members. But with commencement less than a month away, the committee will not provide any information about the remaining candidates.
In December, following a community-wide e-mail from the search committee, hundreds of nominations were sent to Linda Dixon, secretary to the Board of Trustees.
Each of the approximately five finalists is a high-level administrator at one of the top schools in the nation, and some were candidates in the presidential searches of Harvard, Princeton, and Brown universities.
"We have great candidates, and it's not too far away until the trustees are going to be given the search committee's recommendation," said Catherine Squires, a professor of microbiology at Tufts' medical school. Squires is one of four faculty representatives on the 12-person search committee.
Although DiBiaggio says he will remain at Tufts next year if asked to do so by the Board of Trustees, the search committee seems intent on choosing the new president and disbanding before the summer.
"The trustees hope we will be finished by the end of academic year, so we're trying to work on that schedule," Squires said.
Most committee members referred all questions to committee chair Irwin Heller, who did not return repeated phone calls yesterday.
"People who become interested in these jobs are very protective of their privacy," said William Sellers, a trustee representative on the search committee. Sellers, a dentist in Reading, MA, also would not comment on the remaining candidates.
"I know some institutions are very public, and some are less so, and we tend to be less so," said George Ellmore, an associate professor in the department of experimental plant anatomy and morphology.
Ellmore, who has been at Tufts since 1980 and witnessed the search in 1991-1992 that brought DiBiaggio to Tufts, defended the secrecy with which Tufts has conducted its newest search. "Any sort of secrecy is nothing more than discretion," he said.
Committee members say quality candidates would withdraw from the search if their names were made public, and many candidates do not inform their current employers that they are seeking other jobs.
"The entire university is based on protecting our clients, protecting our privacy," Ellmore said. "It's a humane way to conduct a search."
Lee Bollinger, president of the University of Michigan, was a finalist in the Harvard search, but was eventually passed over for Lawrence Summers, the former treasury secretary. Since returning to his post at Michigan, Bollinger has been at the heart of speculation concerning the presidential search at Princeton University, among other schools, but has pledged not to seek the presidency of another institution.
Yesterday, all that Tufts' search committee members would say was that the finalists are qualified candidates. "Tufts will have a terrific president," Squires said.
