Auburn University Trustee Wayne Smith announced on Friday that the search for Auburn University’s 21st President is nearing completion. Dean Chris Roberts, of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University, is the only candidate under consideration at this point.
The Auburn University Board of Trustees has invited Roberts to make himself available to the Auburn University and Auburn University at Montgomery campus communities this Thursday and Friday, Jan. 20 and 21. Off-campus employees and stakeholders who cannot attend on either campus in person are invited to attend an open forum via Zoom on Friday at 3 p.m.
Roberts received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri at Columbia. He received his master’s degree and doctorate from Notre Dame University. Since 1994, he has worked at Auburn University, climbing the ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, department chair, and Uthlaut endowed professor. He has been Dean of the College of Engineering since 2012. From 2020 to 2021 he also served as the interim Vice President of Development and interim President of the Auburn Foundation. Under his leadership, the Auburn College of Engineering has nearly doubled in enrollment.
Roberts is an expert in nanomaterials, fuel processing, and gas-expanded liquids.
The Board of Trustees selected Greenwood/Asher & Associates, LLC as their search firm, and appointed a 22-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee.
Smith said that “The advisory committee conducted eight well-attended listening sessions to collect your important thoughts and opinions about Auburn’s next leader. The feedback from those sessions was most helpful in drafting the position description, and we all began in earnest to publish the announcement and recruit qualified applicants from universities across the country.”
Smith said that the search committee considered 60 applicants, narrowed that down to 15 who were interviewed just before the holidays.
“The committee spoke with a diverse pool of well-qualified educators, many of whom were sitting presidents, provosts, and deans of outstanding institutions,” Smith said.
After interviews, the field was narrowed to five candidates, who then met with the Board of Trustees' Executive Committee. Of those five, one withdrew, one was eliminated, and three were found qualified.
“Understanding the importance of transparency and shared governance on the Auburn campus, we asked the three most currently qualified individuals for the Auburn presidency if they would be willing to come to campus so the entire Auburn family could assess their match for the position,” Smith said. “Two of the individuals informed us that they would not be willing to come unless they knew they would be selected as president, understandably expressing the importance of confidentiality for their careers. One individual was willing to come without knowing the outcome of the process.”
Roberts of course already worked for Auburn University, so he had no reason to fear losing confidentiality about his interest in the job. The other two candidates were then eliminated.
If ultimately selected as President, Roberts would succeed current President George Jay Gogue (born 1947) who was President of Auburn University from 2007 until his retirement in July 2017 and again in 2019 to the present.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandon.moseley@1819News.com. Brandon is a 1993 graduate of Auburn University with a bachelor’s in animal and dairy science.
