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Chancellor Kirwan Appoints University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Search and Screening Committee

Adelphi, Md. (April 25, 2011) -- William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§ (USM), today announced the appointment of the search and screening committee for the president of University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), one of the university system's 12 institutions.

Thelma B. Thompson announced last month that she will retire on Aug. 15 as UMES president. She served as UMES president for nine years.

The chair of the search and screening committee is UMES Alumnus Alfonso N. Cornish, vice president for education and development and chief learning officer for Norton Healthcare. Cornish is a member of the board of the ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§Foundation, which supports the mission of ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§member institutions and several community college clients throughout Maryland.

The other members of the committee are:

Bill Chapin, Assistant Professor of Computer Science; Incoming chair of Faculty Assembly

Cheryll Collier-Mills, Assistant Vice President, Enrollment Management

Rena Finney, Program Administrative Specialist, Frederick Douglass Library

Leslie Holt '11, Student

Patrice Jackson, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy

Lombuso Khoza, Assistant Professor of Human Ecology

Dianna Rogers-Ford, President, UMES National Alumni Association

Dave Spinner, Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice

Jesse T. Williams Sr., Chair, UMES Board of Visitors

Mark Williams, Associate Professor of Mathematics; Chair of Faculty Assembly; Incoming chair of the University Senate

Liaison to the ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§Board of Regents, the Honorable C. Thomas McMillen, ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§Regent and CEO, Homeland Security Corporation

Liaison to the Office of the ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§Chancellor, Anne J. Moultrie, ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications

Staff to the Committee: Alverta Polk, Administrative Assistant II, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences

Kirwan anticipates that the search process will be completed within six months. The committee's work will conclude with its recommendation of finalists for consideration by the chancellor and the ´óÄ̸£Àû¼§Board of Regents. The board will make the final selection.

During Thelma Thompson's tenure as UMES president, the university has been praised for its marked improvement in academic quality and has received more than $150 million in external grants and sponsored research funding.

"As president of UMES, Dr. Thompson focused relentlessly on excellence," Chancellor Kirwan has said. "Under her guidance, the university introduced new and unique programs that have both widened opportunities for students and enhanced the region's and the state's growth and economic development. UMES has earned and maintained critical academic program accreditations and has consistently earned U.S. News & World Report's ranking as one of the country's best historically black institutions."

Kirwan will announce the appointment of an interim president later this year.

For more information about UMES, see .

Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu