Update on national search for Dean of the College of Science and Engineering - sent May 4, 2021

Dear CSE faculty, staff and students:

I’m pleased to be back in touch with an update on the national search for the next dean of the University’s College of Science & Engineering.

I extend my thanks to all of you who attended the multiple listening sessions or who shared perspectives with members of the UMN CSE Dean Search Committee via other avenues. The search committee has now approved a position profile for the dean position that reflects broad input from this phase. Your thoughts and comments have been invaluable in shaping a strong and compelling position profile that captures the vitality and breadth of CSE, its exceptional opportunities, and the collective sense of excitement about the College and its future.

The position profile and other information about the search may be found on the UMN CSE Dean search webpage on the CSE website. With assistance from our national search consultants, we will embark upon an aggressive sourcing and recruiting strategy.

I would especially value your assistance in bringing this opportunity to the attention of colleagues here and at universities and organizations across the country and beyond. The College of Science & Engineering is well-positioned to recruit a strong and diverse pool of candidates who will continue its positive trajectory as one of the best in the nation, with a unique interdisciplinary configuration, top programs in many fields, and a strong commitment to excellence, diversity, and innovation. Your active involvement in the recruiting period is critical to our success in building an excellent pool of qualified candidates from which the next dean will be chosen.

You may submit confidential nominations and applications directly to our search consultants at Isaacson, Miller. Any potential candidate who wishes to discuss the position can reach out in strict confidence to consultants Greg Esposito and Kennedy Kearney by email to gesposito@imsearch.com.

Once applications are received, the search committee will meet to review and confidentially discuss the candidate pool. Following a subsequent set of confidential interviews, the search committee will recommend to me a small pool of individuals to consider as public finalists. I expect to announce finalist candidates by late spring or early summer. Please watch for opportunities to meet and evaluate finalists during public interviews when they are announced.

I thank the members of the search committee, with special thanks to Carlson School of Management Dean Sri Zaheer for serving as committee chair. I also thank all of you for your continued engagement in this important search. Any questions about the search process may be directed to Laura Negrini or Kate Tyler of my senior staff via email to umn-csesearch@umn.edu.

I am grateful for your contributions and continued engagement as we complete this important leadership search.

Sincerely yours,

Rachel T.A. Croson
Executive Vice President and Provost
University of Minnesota