Dear Swarthmore Community Members,

On behalf of the Presidential Search Committee, we are pleased to share the leadership profile for Swarthmore's next president.

This document serves two important purposes: First, we believe it faithfully reflects the priorities, concerns, and aspirations raised most consistently by community members throughout the listening phase of the search. Second, it is intended to attract an exceptional pool of candidates by conveying the extraordinary strengths of the College and the unique opportunity this presidency represents.

The richness of this profile comes thanks to many of you. Over the past several months, we have conducted 23 listening sessions with students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and members of the Board, and reviewed hundreds of your survey responses. The Advancement Office, Alumni Council, and our partners at the search firm Isaacson, Miller collaborated with us on these sessions, which helped give the Committee a deep and nuanced understanding of our community's views.

While no single document can fully capture the complexity and diversity of perspectives shared with us, we have sought to distill the ideas, challenges, and opportunities that emerged most frequently across our conversations. In that sense, the profile reflects the Committee's best effort to identify the themes that resonated most broadly within the community and will guide our work as we enter the next phase of the search.

The profile is publicly available on the College’s presidential search website, and it will also be shared on Isaacson, Miller’s site. We will use it as we begin actively recruiting candidates for this extraordinary leadership opportunity, with the expectation of naming Swarthmore’s next president by early 2027.

As we move forward, the Search Committee remains committed to conducting our work in line with Quaker practices of deep listening, equality of participation, and collective discernment. These practices have shaped both our engagement with the community over these past months and the production of this document, and we’re indebted to you for your partnership in this process.

Among many other things, the listening phase of this search has underscored for the Committee the distinctive space Swarthmore occupies in higher education, the passion and thoughtfulness of our community, and the meaningful difference the College makes in the world. We look forward to meeting candidates who are inspired by Swarthmore’s profound mission and who can help shape an ambitious vision for the College's future.

As always, we welcome your nominations, which you can submit on Isaacson, Miller’s website. If you have questions about the search, please email presidentsearch@swarthmore.edu. 

With appreciation.

Cindi Leive ’88 and Gus Schwed ’84, co-chairs, on behalf of the Presidential Search Committee.

• Bill Boulding ’77, Board of Managers
• David Bradley ’75, H’11, Board of Managers
• Erin Todd Bronchetti, Professor of Economics
• Isthier Chaudhury, Director of Admissions
• Julian Chen ’28
• Logan Grider, Associate Professor of Art
• Chung Sze Kwok ’27
• Lucy Lang ’03, Board of Managers
• Nicole O'Dell Odim ’88, Board of Managers
• Kathryn Riley ’10, Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Jim Sailer ’90, Alumni Council President
• Anne Schuchat ’80, H’05, Board of Managers
• Carolyn Vance, Facilities Work Order Manager