Committee named to find replacement for KU Chancellor Hemenway

Committee members

The Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday named the 18 people who would lead the search for KU’s next chancellor. The committee will be led by Due Jennings, a former Kansas City Power and Light CEO. The rest of the committee includes:

  • Faculty:
  • Jeff Aube, professor of medicinal chemistry.
  • Victor Bailey, director of the Hall Center for the Humanities at KU and the Charles W. Battey Distinguished Professor of Modern British History.
  • Pam Shaw, School of Medicine professor in the department of pediatrics.
  • Student Body:
  • Adam McGonigle, student body president and Wichita junior majoring in political science and journalism (strategic communications).
  • Staff/Administration:
  • Karen Miller, dean of the Schools of Nursing and Allied Health and senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at the KU Medical Center.
  • Paul K. Farran, president of the Unclassified Senate who serves as the director of Student Success Technology Services where he oversees technology services for more than 500 users within Student Success.
  • Dennis Constance, president of the University Support Staff Senate, and former member of the Lawrence City Commission.
  • Alumni/Endowment:
  • Jay Howard, member of the Alumni Association’s executive committee. He also owns an investment firm in Austin.
  • Linda Ellis Sims, account executive with ExxonMobil Corp., who has served as a KU Endowment Trustee since 2003, and is chairwoman of the School of Engineering Advisory Board.
  • Kurt D. Watson, president and chief operating officer, The IMA Financial Group Inc. He has served as a trustee of KU Endowment since 1991 and serves as the chairman of the KU Endowment Board and its Executive Committee.
  • Tom Vaughn, who serves on the Alumni Association Black Alumni Chapter Board and is a Chapter 13 judge in Chicago. Has also served as a member of the KU Law School Board of Governors.
  • Lawrence and broader regional/state community:
  • Dick Bond, former Kansas State Senate president and former chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents.
  • Gene Meyer, president and CEO, of Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
  • Erick E. Nordling, partner with the law firm of Kramer, Nordling and Nordling in Hugoton. He also serves as president of the southwest Kansas chapter of the KU Alumni Association.
  • Deanell Reece Tacha, judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. She has also served as a professor and associate dean in the School of Law and vice chancellor for academic affairs, and is a former chairwoman of the KU Alumni Association’s national board of directors.
  • Board of Regents:
  • Jill Docking, vice chair, Kansas Board of Regents.
  • Reginald Robinson, president and CEO, Kansas Board of Regents.

The Kansas Board of Regents unveiled on Thursday the 18 people who will winnow the field of applicants to help determine Kansas University’s next chancellor.

The 18-member panel includes representatives from the faculty, staff, students, alumni and Lawrence and regional communities.

“The board has appointed a committee that has all kinds of important yet distinctive connections to the University of Kansas,” said Reggie Robinson, regents president and CEO.

The committee will be tasked with finding three to five finalists to replace Chancellor Robert Hemenway, who has announced his intention to step down at the end of the academic year.

The board includes three faculty members, one student, one dean, two staff members, four alumni/Endowment representatives, four community members and two regents representatives in addition to Board Chairman Drue Jennings, former Kansas City Power & Light CEO.

The board was chosen after Robinson made solicitations from several key stakeholder groups for possible participants. In addition, Robinson said he received many other unsolicited nominations.

“Some suggested themselves, many suggested others,” but all nominations were considered for membership, Robinson said.

Robinson said the search committee will take an aggressive approach, where members of the search committee will seek out and approach candidates that fit the criteria they identify as necessary in the next KU chancellor.

In addition to approving the committee on Thursday, regents also approved the selection of a search firm to aid the committee in its search, tapping Dallas-based R. William Funk & Associates.

Bill Funk and his firm have led searches culminating in the hiring of more than 70 currently working university top executives. Robinson praised Funk during the meeting as having a wealth of experience in the field.

“He is very energized about the opportunity to lead this search,” Robinson said.

The committee intends to hold its first meeting in early February.