President

Wartburg College seeks an experienced, engaged, inspirational, and mission-driven leader to serve as its 18th President.

Founded in 1852, Wartburg College is internationally recognized for its community engagement and academic excellence. Dedicated to challenging and nurturing students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning, the College is characterized by vigorous academic expectations and community engagement within an environment of strong personal support. Vocation – discovering and claiming one's calling – lives at the heart of a Wartburg education, and its students are uniquely equipped to explore how their passions intersect with the needs of the community and world. The residential campus is home to 1,543 students from 36 U.S. states and 56 countries representing more than 20 Christian denominations and several world religions. The College’s highly engaged and supportive alumni number more than 24,000.

Wartburg College's President will be an experienced and successful leader of people and institutions who embraces Wartburg's mission, as well as its vision of being the leading institution in the education of the whole person through diverse curricular and co-curricular experiences that prepare students to be resilient leaders of positive change through service in a complex world. The President will be a champion of the liberal arts with a record of leadership focused on student success. This individual will possess an earned terminal degree and a comprehensive understanding of the current and anticipated trends in higher education, particularly in regard to the emerging market for enrollment.

Reporting to the Board of Regents, the President serves as the university’s chief executive officer, providing internal and external leadership in support of the college’s mission and strategic plan, which is expected to be approved by the Board of Regents in February 2022. Wartburg's ideal leader will be present and accessible to all faculty, staff, and students; engaged with the community; innovative; and able to connect with individuals from diverse backgrounds. Unimpeachable integrity, emotional maturity, sound judgment, superb listening skills, optimism, authenticity, and a sense of humor are therefore critical attributes for the President. The successful candidate will embrace Wartburg’s expression of Lutheran higher education and will be chosen from the membership of an ELCA congregation or another church body that has a relationship of full communion with the ELCA. Central to Wartburg’s expression of faith is a commitment to educating the whole person, to helping students discover and claim their callings, and to practicing radical hospitality in welcoming all students into a community firmly rooted in a robust tradition.

A detailed leadership profile is available at this link.

All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a letter of interest addressing the themes in the profile and a CV or resume. WittKieffer is assisting Wartburg College in this search. For fullest consideration, candidate materials should be received by January 18, 2022. Application materials should be submitted using WittKieffer’s candidate portal. Nominations and inquiries can be directed to Dennis Barden, Ryan Crawford, and Sandra Chu at WartburgPresident@wittkieffer.com.

Wartburg College does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, genetics, sex, creed, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability in employment, programs, or benefits.