Dear Salem Academy and College Community,

I hope that you and your loved ones remain in good health. I am writing on behalf of the Presidential Search Committee members with another update on our continued progress.

We are very pleased to report that the search for the Academy and College’s next President is progressing well. The Presidential Search Committee recently met and continued its efforts to identify candidates whose backgrounds and experiences seem especially well matched with the qualities and qualifications established for the search. At this gathering, the search committee considered a robust and diverse pool of applicants and chose to advance a select group of outstanding candidates for confidential preliminary interviews.

Our search consulting team and I indicated early in the process that the need for confidentiality might be a top priority for leading candidates in our search. Indeed, that remains the case. The candidates hold significant positions where they are currently. We want to honor their wishes to continue to explore this exceptional opportunity at Salem with the assurances that their engagement in our search will not become widely known at their home institutions.

While many institutions choose to conduct their entire presidential search as a closed process, others, like Salem, want to ensure appropriate opportunities for constituent groups to engage confidentially with the candidates and provide feedback to the Presidential Search Committee. Please be assured that members of the committee are thoughtfully identifying these opportunities for members of our Academy and College community, beyond the search committee, to be engaged in the final stage of candidate evaluation slated for next month. Additional student, faculty, staff, and other representatives of the Salem community will meet with the finalists and help to shape the consideration of them, while still meeting the privacy wishes of our distinguished group. Moreover, these community members will aid the search committee in championing all that is good and great about Salem Academy and College to the candidates.

Thank you for your continued interest and support. I will provide additional updates as the search moves into its latter stages. Please feel free to reach me with any questions at elizabethdbaird@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Dear Salem Academy and College Campus Community: 

We are making good progress toward the selection of the next president of Salem Academy and College.  Salem’s Board of Trustees distributed a Request for Proposals (RFP) to hire an executive search firm in late 2020.  We received several strong proposals, conducted a thorough review, and are pleased to announce that Salem’s Board of Trustees has retained Storbeck Search to guide our selection process.

Storbeck Search began work in January with a goal of naming a new president by mid-year. 

Woman-owned and woman-led, Storbeck Search is an executive search firm with success in finding leaders for higher education, health, and independent schools. These areas often overlap to provide the most talented and broadly diverse pools of candidates.  Storbeck Search has a national reputation based on its integrity, connections, and insight from decades of experience.  Storbeck Search is committed to working proactively and energetically to recruit an excellent and diverse pool of candidates for Salem Academy and College.

The Search Committee will continue to provide regular updates to the Salem Academy and College alumnae and the campus community.  Updates will  also be available at Salem Academy-Search and Salem College-Search.

Below, please find a list of the names of the 15 individuals who make up the Presidential Search Committee.  The Committee working with Storbeck Search is composed of alumnae, trustees and a former trustee, and leadership representing the Academy and College, including student representatives.

The Chair of the Search Committee is Elizabeth (Liz) D. Baird, who also is Salem’s incoming Board of Trustees Chair.  It is crucial for the incoming Board Chair to have a key role in the Search Committee, and I’m thrilled that Liz has agreed to serve in both capacities.  In addition to her leadership, Liz is a third-generation alumna (C’83) and is a proud parent of a Salem College alumna.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Interim President Susan Henking for her ongoing and vital leadership of Salem Academy and College.

Sincerely,

McDara P. Folan, III
Chair, Board of Trustees

*indicates the individual was a member of the prior Search Committee