TO: The University Community

FROM: G. Robert Witmer Jr., Chairman, University Board of Trustees

RE: Presidential Search

write to provide an update on the activities of the search for the University's 10th President. The Trustees' Presidential Search Committee and the University Advisory Committee have been productive throughout the spring and summer in a number of important ways. First, after careful consideration, the search firm of A.T. Kearney was engaged to assist us in our efforts. Second, University Advisory Committee chair Professor Nick Bigelow and I have met with a broad array of University constituents and local community leaders to apprise them of the search process and to hear their thoughts about the University at this important juncture in its history.

We have produced a "white paper" that details the University's past decade of accomplishment and success and lays out the most visible tasks awaiting the next president as well as the qualifications and personal characteristics that we seek in that person. I invite you to peruse this document, which is posted on the Presidential Search Web site at www.rochester.edu/presidentialsearch.

As I predicted in my March 5 memo to the University community, our search to date has yielded a deep and diverse pool of individuals, many with remarkably successful and distinguished professional careers. That we have stimulated considerable interest in our presidency by such people is a tribute to the quality and reputation of the University. Quite a few names, as well as helpful comments, have come from many of you, through traditional means as well as the Web site. I appreciate the interest and initiative of so many of the University's friends to be helpful in this process.

The work of screening candidates will continue through the fall and, at an appropriate point, separate staff advisory and student advisory committees will be asked for their assistance in assessing the most serious candidates. I have full confidence, given our progress to date, that our combined efforts ultimately will yield a distinguished successor to Tom Jackson, one who will help direct the University on its path to be ever better.

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