Monday, April 25, 2011
Adelphi, Md. — (April 25, 2011) — William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM), today announced the appointment of the search and screening committee for the president of University of Maryland Eastern Shore, one of the university system’s 12 institutions.
Thelma B. Thompson announced last month that she will retire on Aug. 15 as UMES president. She became UMES’ 13th president in July 2002.
The chair of the search and screening committee is UMES alumnus Alfonso N. Cornish, vice president for education and development and chief learning officer for Norton Healthcare. Cornish is a board member of the USM Foundation, which supports the mission of USM member institutions and several community college clients throughout Maryland.
The other members of the committee are:
- Bill Chapin, Assistant Professor of Computer Science; Incoming chair of Faculty Assembly
- Cheryll A. Collier-Mills, Assistant Vice President, Enrollment Management
- Rena Finney, Program Administrative Specialist, Frederick Douglass Library
- Leslie Holt, student, class of 2011
- Patrice Jackson, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy
- Lombuso Khoza, Assistant Professor of Human Ecology
- Dianna Rogers-Ford, President, UMES National Alumni Association
- Dave Spinner, Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice
- Jesse T. Williams Sr., Chair, UMES Board of Visitors
- Mark Williams, Associate Professor of Mathematics; Chair of Faculty Assembly; Incoming chair of the University Senate
- Liaison to the USM Board of Regents, the Honorable C. Thomas McMillen, USM Regent and CEO, Homeland Security Corporation
- Liaison to the Office of the USM Chancellor, Anne J. Moultrie, USM Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications
- Staff to the Committee: Alverta Polk, Administrative Assistant II, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences
Kirwan anticipates that the search process will be completed within six months. The committee’s work will conclude with its recommendation of finalists for consideration by the chancellor and the USM Board of Regents. The board will make the final selection.
During Thelma Thompson’s tenure as UMES president, the university has been praised for its marked improvement in academic quality and has received more than $150 million in external grants and sponsored research funding.
“As president of UMES, Dr. Thompson focused relentlessly on excellence,” Chancellor Kirwan has said. “Under her guidance, the university introduced new and unique programs that have both widened opportunities for students and enhanced the region’s and the state’s growth and economic development. UMES has earned and maintained critical academic program accreditations and has consistently earned U.S. News & World Report’s ranking as one of the country’s best historically black institutions.”
Kirwan will announce the appointment of an interim president later this year.
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