The search for Vanderbilt's seventh Chancellor will be thorough and inclusive, according to Board of Trust vice chairman Dennis C. Bottorff, who was appointed chairman of the search committee at the Board meeting on April 23.
Bottorff, the chairman and chief executive officer of Nashville-based First American Corp., will lead a committee of ten trustees who will conduct the national recruitment and screening effort for the successor to Joe B. Wyatt, who has announced his intention retire in July 2000.
"The search and succession process is one of the most important endeavors that any board can undertake," Bottorff said. "Following Joe Wyatt will be a challenging assignment, so it is important to engage all the University's constituencies in order to identify the chancellor that will lead us into the next millennium."
Bottorff will be joined on the search committee by outgoing Board chairman John R. Hall and newly-elected Board chair Martha R. Ingram, who will be an ex officio member. The other members include trustees Darryl Berger, Monroe J. Carell Jr., Melanie Dayani, William McMinn, Eugene Shanks, Richard H. Sinkfield and Cal Turner Jr.
David Partlett, professor of law, former acting dean of the Law School and past chair of the Faculty Senate, has been named chief of staff to the committee. Partlett's office will also accept nominations from members of the Vanderbilt community and interested observers.
Vanderbilt faculty, staff and students will be involved in the search process through an advisory committee also appointed by the Board of Trust and chaired by Dr. Harold L. Moses, Benjamin F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Clinical Oncology and director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
Moses will serve as the liaison between the search committee and the advisory committee.
"The advisory committee will play a very important and very active role in helping the Board identify the criteria we should use in the search process and soliciting comments and suggestions from faculty, students and staff," Bottorff said. "While the final decision rests with the Board, we will rely on the advisory committee every step of the way to gather information, evaluate candidates and perform the kind of due diligence that is essential for this effort to succeed."
The members of the advisory committee are: Robert Drews, professor of classics and history, and chair, classical studies; Carolyn Evertson, professor of education; Russell G. Hamilton, dean of the Graduate School and professor of Spanish and Portuguese; Lee E. Limbird, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Research at VUMC; James V. Staros, Ph.D., professor and chair of Molecular Biology; Michael R. Waterman, Ph.D., Natalie Overall Warren Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biochemistry; Francene Gilmer, associate director of the Career Center and a past president of the University Staff Council; Sheila Thomas, manager in VUMC's Department of Financial Management and a past president of the Medical Center Staff Advisory Council; James D'Andrea, president, Student Government Association; and Eileen H. Dauer, third-year student in the School of Medicine.
While much of the search process will take place in confidence, public information – including the names of committee members, the position description, and background on the search process – will be available online at www.vanderbilt.edu/chacellorsearch.