President

President

Wilkes University

 

Wilkes University invites nominations, applications and confidential expressions of interest in the position of President of Wilkes University (Wilkes). Reporting to the Board of Trustees of Wilkes, the President exercises broad responsibility for and leadership of all aspects of the academic, student, financial and administrative dimensions of the University. Wilkes seeks an energetic, accomplished and visionary individual to lead and to engage its faculty, staff, students and community.  To view the full position description click here.

 

Wilkes University is a private, independent, non-sectarian institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence through mentoring in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. Wilkes is on a mission to create one of the nation’s finest small universities, offering all of the programs, activities and opportunities of a large university in the intimate, caring and mentoring environment of a small college that is open to all and with a special focus on access.  The University is organized around 6 Colleges and Schools and has approximately 2,500 undergraduate and 2,400 graduate students that represent over 40 states and 29 countries.  Over the past decade the University has invested heavily in the campus with $110 million in both new building and renovations.  In 2018, Wilkes was granted the designation of Doctoral University by the Carnegie Classifications, reflecting the University’s growing population of doctoral students and an increased focus on research and scholarship.

 

Located in the heart of the Wyoming Valley, the city of Wilkes-Barre is a progressive city with industrial roots along the Susquehanna River.  The city has experienced a recent revitalization driven by emerging businesses, institutes of higher education like Wilkes University, and non-profit organizations. It now boasts a population of over 40,000 with 11,000 downtown employees, making it the fourth largest urban workforce in the state.  Beyond the city proper, the region has also begun to reinvent itself as well.  Wilkes-Barre sits at the intersection of three major interstates with access to the tristate area, and multinational corporations including Adidas and Chewy have built large distribution centers that contribute to significant growth in the number of jobs in the region.  Additionally, the Pocono Mountains and its hiking and skiing trails are only minutes away.

 

The President serves as the chief executive officer of Wilkes, providing vision and leadership to focus the intellectual vitality of the University and to maintain and foster a positive environment for its educational, research, cultural and service goals. The President acts as the university’s primary representative to its many constituencies, Wilkes alumni and friends of the University, state and federal agencies and private and corporate foundations. Engagement with local communities, most especially in the greater Wilkes-Barre area, is central to the mission of the University.

 

The new President will demonstrate an outstanding profile of intellectual leadership, either through distinguished scholarship and teaching within academia or through active leadership in other relevant institutions or organizations; a strong track record of administrative and organizational accomplishment; an ability to articulate broad challenges due to the evolving nature of higher education nationally and globally, and an ability to discern opportunities in that environment for Wilkes; strong advocacy for academic values, student success and community impact; a capacity to identify and capture sources of external funding and support; exceptional interpersonal skills and superb communications skills; ethical integrity; an ability to lead within Wilkes’s unique culture; and, a commitment to the core values of Wilkes.

 

 

Contact

Wilkes University has retained Park Square Executive Search to assist in the search for the next President. Nominations, inquiries and applications may be sent in confidence to:

Jonathan Fortescue, Managing Partner or

Kyle Meingast, Principal

+1 617 401 2991

 wilkespresident@parksquare.com

 

 

 

 

Wilkes University does not discriminate on the basis race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, marital or family status, military or veteran status, or genetic information in its programs and activities. For more information, contact Samantha Hart, Title IX Coordinator, 10 East South St., Wilkes-Barre (570) 408-3842 or the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights for more information.