AU's board of trustees voted to name Interim President Neil Kerwin to the position permanently, board and Presidential Search Committee Chairman Gary Abramson announced at a press conference following the board's meeting on Friday.
"The board, search committee and AU community have been seeking a tested leader with integrity who appreciates the significant role of this university in American higher education and understands its potential for future greatness," he said. "We have that person in Dr. Neil Kerwin, whose knowledge, appreciation and understanding of American University span almost four decades."
Kerwin has served as interim president since Aug. 24, 2005, when the board placed then-President Benjamin Ladner on paid administrative leave. The board fired Ladner that October after they concluded an investigation into allegations that he had misused university funds. Ladner later agreed to sever all ties with the university in exchange for a $3.75 million severance package, The Eagle previously reported.
Abramson's announcement concluded a process that began last September, when the committee first met to begin the search process. The committee received over 100 applications from candidates and 160 nominations from members of the campus community over the course of the search. The committee eventually narrowed down the number of candidates to a reported three tentative finalists, but two of the finalists dropped out before the board met on June 27. At that meeting, the board delayed making a decision on how to proceed with the search, The Eagle previously reported.
Since the last meeting, Kerwin had met with designated students and other university constituent groups, according to Student Government President Joe Vidulich, one of the students who participated in the meeting. These constituent groups met previously with three finalist candidates in late May and early June, The Eagle previously reported.
Information on the committee's interest in Kerwin's candidacy and its decision to make him its recommended presidential candidate first came to light in a report from The Washington Post the day before the board's meeting.
The committee presented its recommendation to the board at the meeting, Abramson said.
According to an AU press release, Kerwin's term as permanent president will officially begin on Sept. 1.
Kerwin said his transition to becoming the university's permanent president will produce some changes in his job approach.
"I think that there's a certain tentativeness when you're an interim president," he said. "I think what you'll see is that any remaining tentativeness will simply disappear. I'll engage the job - as I've tried to engage the job as an interim - but engage the job as if my life depended on it."
Abramson said the board hadn't concluded negotiations over Kerwin's new contract as of Friday afternoon, but that Kerwin would receive a raise in salary over what he was getting paid as interim president.
Ann Kerwin, the president-elect's wife, said she was thrilled about her husband's appointment.
"I know how much Neil cares about this place," she said. "Obviously we met here and this is where our son and his fianc?e graduated from. AU's just been a constant part of our lives."
Kerwin, the first AU alumnus to become the university's president, has been connected with the university since 1967, when he came to campus as an undergraduate student. After Kerwin graduated in 1971, he went on to get his master's degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and his doctoral degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1978. He returned to AU in 1975 as an assistant professor in what is now the School of Public Affairs and eventually became the school's dean when it became a separate school in 1988. Kerwin continued to serve as dean of SPA until 1997, when he became the university's provost - the job he held when he became acting president, according to biographical information provided by AU.
Vidulich said he was proud that the new president was an AU alumnus and was happy to see the search process conclude.
"There's no greater feeling than to know that someone who once walked these halls is now in the president's office and will hand me my degree come May," he said. "It means a lot to us to know that we have someone who represents our values. He's someone who stands by his ideals and his actions. I'm proud of him. And I'm glad it's over. This puts one of the most hectic chapters at American University behind us"
