The University announced a new special search committee to find its 10th president and replace former University President Jim Ryan, a spokesperson announced Friday. The committee features 10 sitting Board of Visitors members — including the faculty and student representatives. Additionally, there are also current University administrators, faculty and alumni. The only current undergraduate student on the committee is the student representative to the Board.
Ryan resigned at the end of June following pressure from the Department of Justice to resign or face losing federal research funding and financial aid. Jennifer Wagner Davis is currently serving as acting president.
The special committee will be chaired by University Rector Rachel Sheridan, with Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson serving as vice chair. In a statement, Sheridan said the committee values perspectives “across Grounds and beyond.”
“We are committed to a process that is inclusive and considers input from every corner of the U.Va. community. I look forward to working with the members of the special committee, who are not only incredibly accomplished individuals, but also devoted supporters of U.Va.,” Sheridan said.
Two of the members of this committee — Barbur Lateef and George Martin — served on the 2017 presidential search committee which hired Ryan. The 2017 committee had two student representatives — the student member of the Board and another undergraduate student.
The committee will also be assisted by an “executive search firm,” which is unnamed in the initial statement. Community members will be able to provide input to the committee through listening sessions and town halls, which will take place in Charlottesville and in other places in “Virginia and beyond.”
The first meeting of the special committee will take place in August, and a website will be launched to provide updates on the committee’s search process.
The University is also still focused on searching for an interim president, and multiple Board members have participated in listening sessions with groups on-Grounds, as well as soliciting responses through a website where members of the University community can submit nominations for the interim president.
Sheridan is currently being sued by Senate Democrats in Fairfax County after a Senate committee voted down appointees to Boards by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Those appointees at the University and other schools in Virginia refused to step down, and a judge in Fairfax County is hearing arguments Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, previously told The Cavalier Daily that there would be consequences if the University moved forward with selecting an interim president, specifically a strongly partisan one.
Here is a full list of the committee’s representatives.
Chair: Rachel Sheridan
Co-Chair: Porter Wilkinson
Administration representatives
- Kenyon Bonner, Chief Student Affairs Officer
- Philip Bourne, dean of the School for Data Science
- Mitch Rosner, interim executive vice president of U.Va. Health
- Carla Williams, University Athletics Director
Board of Visitors representatives
- Jim Donovan
- Marvin Gilliam
- John Harris
- Jim Lambert, Board Faculty Representative
- Paul Manning
- John Nau
- Dr. David Okonkwo
- Gregory Perryman, Board student representative and fourth-year College student
- Amanda Pillion
- Doug Wetmore
Alumni, former University officials and non-affiliated representatives
- Marvin Bush, class of 1979 alumnus and vice president of Winston Capital Management
- Quana Dennis, class of 2023 and 2024 alumnus and faculty member of Saint Anne’s-Belfield School
- Pam Edmonds, class of 1991 alumna, trustee emerita of the College Foundation and trustee of the U.Va. Health Foundation
- Peter Grant, class of 1978 and 1982 alumnus, chair of the University’s Honor the Future capital campaign and founding partner of Anchormarck Holdings
- Dr. Babur Lateef, former Board member, former chair of U.Va. Health System Board, chair of Prince William County School Board and current graduate student. Lateef also served on the committee which resulted in Ryan’s hiring.
- George Martin, former Rector, class of 1975 alumnus and former managing partner at McGuireWoods law firm. Martin also served on the committee which resulted in Ryan’s hiring.
- Jimmy Reyes, former Board member and owner of Reyes Holdings
- Gretchen Walsh, class of 2025 alumna, Olympian and former Women’s Swim and Dive athlete
Professors, faculty and other University-affiliated individuals
- David Leblang, Public Policy Prof.
- Lori McMahon, neuroscience prof. and former vice president for research
- Sherri Moore, assoc. prof. of Commerce and class of 1985 alumna
- Adam Richard, co-chair of the University’s Staff Senate Executive Committee
Current undergraduate students — see Board representatives section
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