A critically important stage of the search for Brown University’s next president is seeking the opinions and perspectives of Brown faculty, staff, students and alumni. We are writing to share upcoming opportunities for members of the Brown community to provide input to help identify the attributes for a president who will establish a vision for the University's next era of excellence and growth.

The first engagement tool is a Brown Community Survey that is available now to welcome input from all faculty, staff and students no later than Friday, October 30. The survey is anonymous and includes an opportunity to suggest individuals — inside and outside the Brown community — who you feel would be suitable candidates. Nominations can also continue to be submitted at any time to the executive search firm assisting with the search, Spencer Stuart, by emailing BrownPresident@spencerstuart.com.

As we wrote in a letter to the full Brown community in August, Spencer Stuart is the national firm that played a similar role in Brown’s last presidential search and has been retained by the Corporation of Brown University as the institution’s governing body. To carry out the search for Brown’s 20th president, the Presidential Selection Committee of the Corporation, which we co-chair, will be aided and advised by a Campus Advisory Committee to the Presidential Search. The structure of dual committees is consistent with Brown’s custom and tradition in selecting a president over the past several decades, and the search process will be very much a partnership with members of both committees meeting jointly and participating actively in the search.

The Campus Advisory Committee comprises members of the faculty; undergraduate, graduate and medical students; and a staff representative. It is being led by a faculty chair and faculty vice chair. The membership of both committees can be found on the Presidential Search webpage, which also has information about the general search timeline. Members of both committees and the Spencer Stuart team will be eager to hear and understand the qualities and characteristics of leadership the Brown community is seeking in our 20th president.

In addition to the online survey, faculty, students and staff can participate in on-campus, in-person listening sessions hosted by colleagues from Spencer Stuart on October 22 and 23. The schedule for those sessions can be found on the Presidential Search webpage. We encourage all members of the community to take advantage of opportunities to participate, as the information gleaned will be highly instructive and essential to our ultimate success.

Thank you for your continued engagement in and support for the search for Brown’s next president.

Sincerely,

Brian T. Moynihan
Chancellor 

Pamela Ress Reeves
Vice Chancellor