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Nashville executive and Vanderbilt Board of Trust Vice Chairman Dennis C. Bottorff will chair the search committee charged with identifying the next Chancellor of Vanderbilt University, Board of Trust Chairman Martha R. Ingram announced on Thursday.
Bottorff, a Vanderbilt graduate and chairman of the Nashville-based venture capital firm Council Ventures, will lead a nine-member committee of university trustees who will conduct a national search for the successor to Gordon Gee, who last week announced his intention to step down at the end of July to accept the presidency of The Ohio State University. Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Nicholas S. Zeppos has been appointed Interim Chancellor effective Aug. 1.
“Denny Bottorff is a tireless advocate for Vanderbilt, a keen analyst of talent, and a relentless consensus-builder whose experience running the last search will help us identify the best leader for this great university,” Ingram said. “We are very committed to having a thorough and inclusive process in which all voices can be heard.”
Bottorff said the board “has no greater responsibility than selecting the Chancellor who will build on the tremendous success, and momentum, of recent years.
“Vanderbilt has taken a rightful position among the great universities of the world, and my colleagues and I expect that our successful candidate will have a great passion for our missions of education, discovery, patient care and public service.”
Joining Bottorff on the search committee are Board of Trust members Darryl Berger (New Orleans), Mark Dalton (Greenwich, Conn.), John Ingram (Nashville), Orrin Ingram (Nashville), Nancy Mulford (Dallas, Texas), Richard Sinkfield (Atlanta, Ga.), Heather Souder (Washington, D.C.) and J. Lawrence Wilson (Rosemont, Pa.). In addition, Board of Trust Chairman Ingram and members John R. Hall (Lexington, Ky. and Monroe J. Carell (Nashville) will serve as ex officio members of the committee.
In addition, the search committee will be assisted by an advisory committee of Vanderbilt faculty, students and staff to be announced next week. The advisory committee will help the board by identifying the criteria to be used in the search process, and by soliciting comments and suggestions from the Vanderbilt community through public meetings and online surveys.
“The Advisory Committee will be an essential link between the board and Vanderbilt’s many constituencies. The final decision belongs to the Board of Trust, but it absolutely has to be informed by the people who have such an important stake in this great university,” Bottorff said.
Updated information about the Chancellor search process, including biographies of the members of the search committee and a feedback page, can be found at www.vanderbilt.edu/chancellorsearch.
Media contact: Michael Schoenfeld, (615) 343-1790 or (615) 429-7913
michael.schoenfeld@vanderbilt.edu