Lee University launches search for President Paul Conn's successor

The search for the next president of Lee University is officially underway.

Long-time President Paul Conn announced earlier this month that he will leave his position at the end of the academic year and transition to a role as chancellor.

Dennis Livingston, chair of the university's Board of Directors, is in charge of the search and has appointed a six-member search committee along with four advisory members to lead the search process.

Livingston anticipates that the search committee will be able to deliver its findings to the full Board of Directions, which will announce its decision sometime in January or February.

"We are a search committee, not a selection committee," he said in a statement. "Our job is to gather information, but the entire Board of Directors will meet together to make the choice."

Members of the search committee include Livingston, Wade Lombard of Austin, Texas; Patricia Carroll of Ft. Myers, Florida; Jerry Madden of Greer, South Carolina; Robert Daugherty II of Atlanta, Georgia; and Kenneth Jones II of Princeton, North Carolina.

The four additional individuals serving as advisory members represent a different part of the Lee University community, according to a press release.

"We want to make sure every voice is heard," Livingston said in a statement.

Those four individuals are Steve Black representing Lee alumni, Jean Eledge representing Lee's faculty, Beverly Johnson representing the Cleveland community and Lena BArber representing Le students and staff.

After more than 30 years as president, Conn said he had made his decision because he felt he could serve Lee better in a different capacity.

"I have made this decision because I believe I can serve Lee better not by directing the day-to-day operations, but by working with a new leader who can bring fresh energy and insight to our shared vision," Conn said in a statement earlier this month.

The new president will take over leadership of the university on August 1, 2020.

Conn has pledged to support his successor, according to a press release.
"I will still be here working hard, in the role of Chancellor, to help the new president reach the big dreams we all have for Lee University," he said in a statement. "This is the work I love, at the place I love, with the people I love. My title and position will change, but not my heart."

Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.

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