McDaniel College entrance sign in Summer.

Presidential Search

The presidential search committee was formed in September 2021 following President Roger N. Casey’s announcement that he will retire in June 2021.

Review the Search Prospectus Meet our Tenth President, Dr. Julia Jasken

The President's Office

The Search Committee

The McDaniel College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Jasken as president during a special meeting following the endorsement of the Presidential Search Committee. The committee, which was chaired by Bruce H. Preston, a 1975 alumnus and member of the board since 1995, was formed in October and consisted of six other trustees, three elected faculty members, one staff representative, one alumni representative and one student representative. The committee, with the assistance of the search firm TBC Consulting, held focus group meetings and solicited survey responses from college constituents and leaders in the Westminster community to develop the presidential search profile.

Bruce H. Preston, '75, Trustee, Chair, Preston Realty, LLC
Jessia Avila '22, Student representative
Charles A. Boehlke Jr., '78, Trustee, Executive Vice President & CFO (ret.), MSC Industrial Direct
Mary Lynn Durham '70, Trustee, Lawyer, Mary Lynn Durham LPA Co.
Ralph O. Frith '84, Trustee, Divisional Sales Manager (ret.), Spectrum Brands, Inc.
Jenni Glennon M.S. '04, Staff representative, Associate Vice President for Administration
Cheng Huang, Faculty representative, Associate Professor, Biology
Marjorie R. Kimble M.Ed. '86, Trustee, Media Specialist (ret.), Carroll County Public Schools
Albert J. Mezzanotte Jr. '78, Trustee, Partner, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP
Christopher Newman '88, Trustee, Head of Americas, T. Rowe Price
Alexander G. Ober '63, M.Ed. '69, Alumni representative, Professor Emeritus, Exercise Science and Physical Education (now Kinesiology)
Linda L. Semu, Faculty representative, Associate Professor, Sociology
Bryn Upton, Faculty representative, Professor, History

From the Chair of the Board

“The most important task of our board is selecting the president of the college and I want to express sincere thanks to the members of the Presidential Search Committee, particularly Bruce Preston, for their great service to the college,” said McDaniel College Board Chair Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Otto J. Guenther, a 1963 alumnus. “We are grateful to the many members of our community who participated in open forums and surveys that allowed us to identify the desired qualities we were seeking—the very qualities, in fact, that make Dr. Jasken so uniquely qualified for her new role. Her accomplishments are impressive and impeccable, and she is truly the best possible choice to lead McDaniel.” 

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Otto J. Guenther, McDaniel College Board Chair

Read the Announcement McDaniel College appoints Dr. Julia Jasken as tenth president

Dr. Julia Jasken has been selected by the McDaniel College Board of Trustees as the college’s tenth president, effective June 1, 2021. Jasken will be only the second woman president in the college’s history. She has dedicated nearly her entire professional life to higher education and most notably to McDaniel, beginning in the classroom in 2003 as an English professor and most recently has served as the college’s executive vice president and provost.

Read "McDaniel College appoints Dr. Julia Jasken as tenth president"

The Search Timeline

September:

Dr. Roger Casey, McDaniel's ninth president, announces retirement at the conclusion of the 2021 academic year (Sept 24)
Presidential transition committee created (Sept 24)

October:

Search consultant identified
Presidential search committee announced (Oct 15)
First meeting of the presidential search committee (Oct 19) and launch of the presidential search
Focus group held with McDaniel College Board of Trustees (Oct 24) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Focus group held with McDaniel College President's Council members (week of Oct 26) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Focus group held with McDaniel College Alumni Council (Oct 27) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Memo sent to campus (Oct 29) requesting that any potential internal candidates express interest by Nov 6
Survey requesting feedback on the desired attributes of the next president sent to all campus constituents (Oct 30), including all faculty, staff, undergraduate students, and graduate students, as well as all alumni and parents

November:

Focus group held with McDaniel College undergraduate and graduate student leaders (Nov 2) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Focus group held with McDaniel College staff (Nov 2) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Focus groups held with McDaniel College faculty (Nov 2 and Nov 3) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Focus group held with Westminster community leaders (Nov 5) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Focus group held with McDaniel College Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Group (Nov 10) to determine the desired qualities of the next president in order to develop the search criteria
Presidential Search Committee meets to finalize search criteria (Nov 16)
Presidential search profile completed and distributed to all McDaniel constituents (Nov 20)
Internal candidates have until no later than Dec 4 to apply

December

Presidential Search Committee meets to evaluate internal candidate(s)
Internal candidate(s) interviewed by search committee
Search committee brings recommendation to the Board of Trustees
Board of Trustees holds special meeting in executive session (week of Dec 14) to consider the recommendation of the Presidential Search Committee and vote to appoint president, if applicable

To view the communication from the Presidential Search Committee that was sent to campus, click here.