Consultant hired to help find next UNC president

President Tom Ross, who has led the 17-campus UNC system for more than four years, has been asked by the system's Board of Governors to step down next January.

Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, will help help the board's presidential search committee identify potential successors by refining position specifications and advertising strategies, identifying and recruiting candidates and coordinating the interview and selection process, officials said.

Founded in 1982, Isaacson, Miller has engaged in more than 5,500 executive searches for, among others, the City University of New York system, Dartmouth College, Tufts University, Lehigh University, the University of California system, Pennsylvania State University, Vanderbilt University and New York University. The firm also recently led Duke University’s searches for a provost and a chancellor of Duke University Medical Center.

The firm, which was selected from among 18 applicants, will be paid $150,000, plus expenses, officials said, noting that none of the money will come from state funds.

The search committee is holding four regional forums to gather public input about what they want in the next UNC president. Three were this week in Asheville, Greenville and Durham, and the fourth will be in Charlotte on Monday.