John Morgan, chair of the Emory University Board of Trustees, announced that the Presidential Selection Committee will propose a final presidential candidate for approval during the Board of Trustees’ summer meeting Friday, June 3.
Morgan addressed students and faculty Monday, April 18, at the Economics Department Banquet held in the Emory Conference Center Hotel. Faculty in the Department of Economics presented several students with annual awards and oversaw the induction of about 20 students into Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international honor society for the field of economics.
“I think [the June 3 date] was new knowledge for a lot of people,” said Graduate Program Coordinator for the Department of Economics Stephanie Gray in an interview with the Wheel. “It’s very exciting.”
During his speech, Morgan presented several updates regarding Emory’s presidential search on behalf of the 14-member Presidential Selection Committee, of which he is the chair. The Committee has met 11 times and initiated about 50 encounters with Emory community members, including surveys and breakout sessions, Morgan added.
Through the feedback gained from the Emory community, the committee has developed a five-page document titled the “Presidential Respective,” which is intended to help presidential candidates understand the “collective mind of Emory,” Morgan said. “I think there’s a trust that’s been built [with the community] through this process.”
The document encompasses six values that the committee will emphasize in its search: to lead, to fundraise, to leverage the health sciences, to engage broadly with other communities, to facilitate collaboration and to shift from diversity to inclusion, according to Morgan. “The next president[‘s] charge … is to address these in a very material and impactful way,” he said. “We’ve got some great candidates who are fully capable of that type of leadership.”
Morgan not only expressed optimism about the next presidency and the current status of the presidential search, but also praised University President James Wagner’s accomplishments. “[Wagner’s] term was very successful — but there’s more to do,” he said.
Associate Professor of Economics Leonard Carlson said that everything Morgan mentioned “made sense.” However, he added that he would also work to ensure that the next president is capable of creating cohesion amongst Emory students if he were advising the search.
“I don’t think Emory students feel as excited about being here as I wish they did,” Carlson said in an interview with the Wheel. “I think Emory still has a ways to go, so I think that it’s good that [the Presidential Selection Committee] is thinking that way.”
