Board of Trustees Announces Presidential Selection Council Members

The search for the next Penn State president will soon be underway and the individuals who will aid that process were revealed by Board of Trustees Chairwoman Karen Peetz at the board meeting on Friday. 

Peetz said during board committee meetings on Thursday that she wants to see the selection process move forward rather quickly, with an intended date of November 2013 to announce a candidate. Penn State President Rodney Erickson has said he plans to retire when his contract expires on June 30, 2014. 

The board granted Peetz authorization to announce the trustees who will serve on the presidential selection council: 

• Marianne E. Alexander, President Emerita, Public Leadership Education Network
• James S. Broadhurst, Chairman, Eat’n Park Hospitality Group Inc.

• Mark H. Dambly, President, Pennrose Properties LLC

• Keith W. Eckel, Sole Proprietor and President, Fred W. Eckel Sons Farms Inc.

• Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merck & Co. Inc.

• Edward R. Hintz, Jr., President, Hintz Capital Management Inc.

• Peter A. Khoury, Graduate Student, Penn State

• Ira M. Lubert, Chairman and Co-Founder, Independence Capital Partners and Lubert Adler Partners LP

• Keith E. Masser, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sterman Masser Inc.

• Karen B. Peetz, Vice Chairman, CEO of Financial Markets and Treasury Services, Bank of New York Mellon

• Paul H. Silvis, Head Coach, SilcoTek

• Linda B. Strumpf, retired Chief Investment Officer, The Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Peetz said on Thursday that the next step is to reach out to the appropriate channels in an effort to seat the rest of the selection committee members, which will include two deans and chancellors, two students – one graduate student and one undergraduate student – two individuals from the president’s executive staff, the president of the Penn State Alumni Association and one staff member.

‘The selection of our next president is one of the most important decisions we, as a university, will make,’ Peetz said. ‘Consequently, the Presidential Selection Council will rely heavily on all parts of our community and constituent representatives, including faculty, academic and administrative leadership, staff, students and alumni as members of the University Presidential Search and Screen Committee.’ 

The board also has plans in place to hire an executive search firm, as other universities have, to aid in the search.