James Wagner, provost of Case Western Reserve University,
was named Emory’s 19th president after a special meeting of
the University’s Board of Trustees, held July 30.
Wagner, whose appointment concludes an eight-month, national search
following the retirement announcement of President Bill Chace, will
arrive in time for the beginning of Emory’s fall semester.
Ben Johnson, chair of Emory’s Board of Trustees (BOT) and
of the Presidential Search Committee, said the committee considered
some 150 individuals during the search, held in-person interviews
with 15 candidates and narrowed the list to four finalists before
Wagner emerged as the committee’s unanimous choice. In the
final stage of the search, Johnson said Wagner met with roughly
100 different individuals—from deans to students, faculty
to presidents of other Atlanta universities, to President Jimmy
Carter—all of whom were similarly impressed by Wagner’s
credentials and approach to higher education leadership.
“It’s almost impossible for me to imagine that any one
human being could see and impress so many people—and it’s
not a ‘flashy’ impression,” Johnson said. “This
is someone who understands higher education, someone who understands
the uniqueness of Emory’s heritage and the role Emory can
play, someone who is very ambitious for Emory to achieve its potential,
and someone who has got the ability, energy and ambition to take
it there.”
“Emory University has the opportunity to be known and to be
recognized for being inquiry-based and values-guided—an educational
institution of the highest order,” Wagner said. “All
university presidents feel they have a passion for what higher education
should mean for society globally, not just locally, and they’re
looking for platforms where they can help lead and make a difference.
“Emory is too good not to be recognized as a leader; in fact,
higher education is more open to Emory’s kind of leadership
than it has been in a long time,” he continued. “So
the excitement is not only about what Emory is, but what it can
be.”
Appointed provost at Case Western Reserve (CWRU) in 2000, Wagner
served 15 months as interim president from May 2001–July 2002.
Prior to becoming provost, he spent two years as dean of CWRU’s
Case School of Engineering after a 13-year career on the engineering
faculty of Johns Hopkins University. Wagner holds a bachelor’s
degree in electrical engineering from the University of Delaware,
along with a master’s of clinical engineering and Ph.D. in
materials science and engineering from Johns Hopkins. He is 50 years
old.
“We’re just incredibly fortunate [to have Wagner as
president]—I think it’s divine intervention,”
said Wright Caughman, professor and chair of dermatology and a member
of the search committee. “He’s incredibly engaging,
he’s a fantastic listener, and I think he’s a synthesizer
and a doer. He believes the best is yet to come for this institution.”
Several members of both the search committee and the Faculty Advisory
Committee (a 10-person body appointed to provide a wider breadth
of faculty input into the search process) acknowledged that some
members of the Emory community may have questions—indeed,
they said they had questions themselves—about appointing an
engineer as president of a university without an engineering school,
but they felt confident Wagner would quickly and decisively dispel
any such uncertainties.
“I must admit, I was a little taken aback when I saw his CV,”
said David Lynn, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry and Biology
and a member of the advisory committee. “But I was delightfully
surprised at the depth of his understanding and the depth of perspective
he will bring to the position. He clearly has a vision and clearly
does understand what it means to be a liberal arts institution.”
“To say that he’s ‘an engineer’ doesn’t
do justice to his experience and his interests,” said search
committee member John Ford, senior vice president and dean for Campus
Life. “He’s very familiar with the opportunities and
the challenges in the humanities and social sciences, and I think
he’s genuinely interested in being inclusive about all the
range of research and teaching and service that is part of Emory.”
Johnson said not just the search committee but much of the BOT was
actively involved in the final-stage interviews with Wagner, who,
without exception, impressed everyone with whom he met.
“I’ ve never been more optimistic about the [BOT’s]
unity or enthusiasm,” Johnson said. “I think the board
will enthusiastically support Jim Wagner in his efforts to take
Emory to the next level, and to provide him with the resources he
needs.”
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