President Marjorie Hass announced in December 2016 that she would leave Austin College to assume the presidency of Rhodes College on July 1, and the College’s Board of Trustees immediately began to facilitate the selection of the 16th president of the College. Trustee Scott Austin ’83 was named to lead the search committee, and he began to assemble a group of board, faculty, staff, and student representation.
The nationally recognized search firm of Wheless Partners was selected to assist in identifying and recruiting candidates, and the firm and committee went to work to gather perspectives from a wide range of constituents in development of the candidate profile and pool. The firm continued the process of interviewing and vetting interested individuals and in May, presented detailed materials on several candidates that matched the profile.
The Search Committee for the 16th President then reached consensus on a finalist pool of 10 individuals and began personal interviews. In May, the board also approved the appointment of Dr. Mike Imhoff, former vice president for Academic Affairs, to serve as interim president as of July 1. “We are confident that his long-tenured experience and knowledge of Austin College and its constituencies, as well as his leadership and great wisdom, will bring a sense of steadiness and positive direction to this transition period,” Austin said. “We are grateful to Mike for his love of Austin College and his willingness to serve.” Imhoff was a member of the chemistry faculty for 30 years before serving on the administration for 13 years. See Imhoff’s comments.
As of June 30, the Search Committee had conducted video interviews with all 10 candidates and narrowed the field to the strongest five. Search Committee members are holding personal interviews with the five finalists during July. Austin is pleased with the progress. “Things are happening; we are moving forward, and I feel very confident about the future president of Austin College,” he said.
See more details about The Search for the 16th President.