UW board starts work to find next system president, replacing interim leader Tommy Thompson
Devi Shastri
The University of Wisconsin System board announced the first step in relaunching a search for a new system president, naming a 19-person search committee of administrators, professors, students, and board members.
Board President Edmund Manydeeds III, who just started his role after a politically contentious election, announced the search committee Friday during his first meeting as the board chair.
The system will now start the work to replace interim System President Tommy Thompson. The former Wisconsin governor took on the role in July 2020 at the board's behest, after the search to find a permanent replacement for his predecessor, Ray Cross, failed.
Thompson has been anything but "interim" in his approach, taking charge and guiding the System through a challenging year. As he did in his years as governor, Thompson combined political leadership with some much-needed boosterism for the state university system.
“President Thompson has reminded us of the power of the Wisconsin Idea,” said Manydeeds. “We saw this during the height of the pandemic, when we opened campuses to community testing and vaccinations. Our next president should keep that focus while meeting the many challenges ahead.”
The timing of the announcement coincides with the one-year window the UW System was advised to wait after the last search imploded. Despite other university systems putting their searches for new leadership on hold due to the pandemic, Wisconsin had pushed on, only to have the only finalist for the role withdraw after his public interviews.
The finalist, former University of Alaska System President Jim Johnsen, said at the time it was clear to him that the search committee had "important process issues to work out.” Though Johnsen declined to elaborate on that comment, the search was marred with criticism for being rushed, lacking transparency and having little valuable input from diverse constituencies.
The former search and screen committee had no faculty and no staff. Manydeeds, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, appeared to be the only person of color on the committee.
The new committee named Friday is much larger and includes more representation. The group is expected to first convene in August. They would hire a new search firm, determine which candidates to interview, and review and update the prospectus from the last search "with an eye toward identifying changes or additional information needed resulting from UW System’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic," a UW System announcement said.
The search committee will schedule listening sessions at the 13 UW campuses starting in September, at which point more faculty, staff and students can weigh in.
A special committee of regents will be announced in the fall, and will be tasked with reviewing the finalists for interviews. The full board will vote to approve the final hire.
Manydeeds asked Regent Vice President Karen Walsh to chair the search.
“I’ve often said that the next UW System president is watching us, and our progress during COVID-19 will no doubt be noticed by potential candidates," Walsh said Friday.
Other members include:
- Warren Anderson, Senior Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, UW System
- Robert Atwell, Regent
- Rebecca Blank, Chancellor, UW-Madison
- Amy Blumenfeld Bogost, Regent
- Johannes Britz, Provost, UW-Milwaukee
- Michael Falbo, Regent President Emeritus
- Deborah Ford, Chancellor, UW-Parkside
- Rob Manzke, Chief of Staff, Chancellor’s Office, UW-Stevens Point
- Sabrina Mueller-Spitz, Associate Professor of Biology, UW-Oshkosh
- Geoffrey Peterson, Professor of Political Science and American Indian Studies, UW-Eau Claire
- Dr. Ashok Rai, Regent
- Glendali Rodriguez, Interim Provost, UW-Stout
- Corey Saffold, Regent and Student, UW-Whitewater
- Paul Shain, Vice Chair, Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, and President/CEO, Singlewire Software, LLC
- Jon Shelton, Associate Professor, and Chair, Democracy and Justice Studies, UW-Green Bay
- Dennis Shields, Chancellor, UW-Platteville
- Artanya Wesley, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, UW-Whitewater
- Olivia Woodmansee, Regent Emeritus and Student, UW-La Crosse
Contact Devi Shastri at 414-224-2193 or DAShastri@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DeviShastri.