Hiring
Michael Benson – West Virginia University
Michael Benson has large shoes to fill beginning in July when he steps in as president at West Virginia University, replacing veteran academic leader Gordon Gee, who heads into retirement.
An experienced leader in his own right, Benson is the current president of Coastal Carolina University, where he secured a $10 million gift, the largest in school history, according to a university statement. A professor of history, Benson has also taught at every school where he eventually became president, which also includes Eastern Kentucky University, Southern Utah University and Snow College in Ephraim, Utah.
The next leader of West Virginia’s state flagship arrives at a momentous time for the university. In 2023, President Gee announced academic program mergers or cuts, tuition raises and layoffs. The moves have drawn strong reactions from the community, particularly from faculty.
William M. Downs – Campbell University (N.C.)
The Board of Trustees at Campbell University has concluded a six-month presidential search, selecting William Downs as the sixth president in university history.
Downs most recently served as president of Gardner-Webb University, where he helped revamp the core curriculum and spearheaded multiple capital projects across key campus facilities, per a university statement. He begins his new position in July.
Charles Edmonds – Lycoming College (Penn.)
Charles Edmonds has been selected as the next president of Lycoming College beginning in July.
Edmonds currently serves as Lycoming’s executive vice president and chief external affairs officer, where he oversees strategic and institutional planning, program innovation, fundraising and financial management and other tasks.
Edmonds is credited with raising nearly $80 million for an economic development project that revitalized a central campus building. His contribution to the college’s 2021 strategic plan also resulted in the launch of several varsity men’s and women’s athletics teams, according to the university.
Mark Johnson – Louisiana Christian University
Louisiana Christian University has found its next president in Mark Johnson, a third-generation Baptist minister and senior pastor in the New Orleans area.
Johnson has most recently served as an assistant professor of evangelism and pastoral ministries and director of the Doctor of Ministry Division at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as a trustee of Washington and Jefferson College. Before his career in higher education, Johnson played professional basketball in Europe and South America, Town Talk reports.
Elizabeth Kiss – Union College (N.Y.)
Union College has found its next president in Elizabeth Kiss, who begins her new role on July 1 as the first female president in the school’s 230-year history.
An accomplished academic and administrator, Kiss earned her master’s and doctorate degree from Oxford College after earning a Rhodes scholarship. She is now CEO of the Rhodes Trust and is credited for raising a record amount of money for the program across Africa, India, Pakistan and China, according to a university statement.
Kiss also served 12 years as president of Agnes Scott College, an all-women’s liberal arts college in Atlanta.
Retiring
Matt Wetstein – Cabrillo College (Calif.)
Following seven years of presidential leadership for Cabrillo College and the broader Santa Cruz County community, Matt Wetstein has announced his retirement.
Wetstein attracted $14 million in federal grants and grew Cabrillo’s endowment by almost $30 million, Press Banner reports. He also increased the number of full-time faculty and expanded majors in regional workforce programs like welding and nursing.
More from UB: Here’s what higher ed can expect from its new education secretary
However, Wetstein’s legacy will rest on his swift emergency planning and coordination in 2020, when a devastating double whammy of COVID and wildfires struck Northern California.
The president will continue working until the end of the year, Dec. 31.
Stepping down
Rhea Law – University of South Florida
The University of South Florida has announced Rhea Law will step down as president of the University of South Florida as it poises to begin its nationwide search for a successor.
Selected as interim president in 2021 and named to the role permanently less than a year later, Law has accrued quite the resume for the R1 university in her four years of leadership. USF has set new records in receiving legislative and philanthropic support, which has translated to new highs in research funding.
This outpouring of money led Law to spearhead multiple capital projects across campus, including the creation of a new stadium, honors college, wellness center and the first-ever student housing on its satellite campus in Sarasota-Manatee.
In 2023, USF was invited to join the Association of American Universities, a goal established at the university when Law was still chair of the school’s board of trustees 15 years prior, per a university statement.
Keith Whitfield – University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Keith Whitfield is out as president of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The news comes as a shock to some campus community members since the five-year president had signed a contract extension through 2028, 3 News reports. Whitfield said he was planning on spending more time with his mother and grandson, both of whom suffer health challenges.
Whitfield, the university’s first African American president, oversaw record enrollment and the construction of a new building for its school of medicine. However, the university also weathered storms under his leadership. In 2023, a shooter entered the campus community and killed three professors.
The university, its Board of Regents and Whitfield are also still in the middle of a lawsuit waged by a Jewish student who accused them of failing to protect the campus community from antisemitic harassment endured during pro-Palestinian protests that erupted last spring, Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
