BOSTON -- University of Massachusetts board of trustees member Henry M. Thomas III, of Springfield, will chair the committee charged with finding a new chancellor for UMass Boston.
Trustees Chairman Robert J. Manning and UMass President Martin T. Meehan named a 14-member committee to lead a global search with University of Maryland Baltimore County President Freeman A. Hrabowski III as a consultant.
The new leader will replace J. Keith Motley, who left his position June 30 after a decade. His announcement in June followed reports that UMass Boston was facing $30 million in debt. Deputy Chancellor Barry Mills is serving in the interim.
"We are launching a search for a proven, inspiring and dynamic leader for UMass Boston," Manning said in a press release.
"President Meehan and I, along with the board and the search committee are committed to ensuring that leadership communities in higher education, business and public service understand the incredible opportunity the UMass Boston chancellorship provides to transform lives and advance an invaluable institution in one of the world's greatest cities."
Hrabowski has served as president of UMBC since 1992, according to the release.
President Barack Obama appointed him chairman of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans, and he has served as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and universities and school systems nationally. Hrabowski, Manning and Meehan will actively recruit candidates for the search committee, according to the press release.
The 14-member committee includes UMass Boston faculty, students, staff and alumni, as well as representatives from the board, the university system, the community and labor. Former trustee Ed Collins of Springfield will represent labor.
The search committee will submit finalists to Meehan, who will recommend one finalist to the board of trustees for appointment to the chancellorship.
Mills said he will step down at the end of the 2017-18 academic year unless a new chancellor is not selected, in which case he would remain.