Washburn Regents pick presidential search committee chair, set date to hire interim

A search committee is now in place to look for Washburn University president Jerry Farley's successor, but an appointment on an interim president is still to come.

The Washburn Board of Regents on Thursday afternoon appointed alumnus Greg Greenwood, a recently retired executive with Evergy, to chair the university presidential search committee.

Members of the committee will also include the following:

• Washburn Regents Shelly Buhler and Terry Beck.

• Washburn alumni and Topeka community members Mark Heitz, Sunee Mickle, Cody Foster, Tara Dimick, Michelle Cuevas-Stubblefield, Molly Howey and C. Patrick Woods.

• Students Shayden Hanes, Amari McGlory and Mason Engelken.

• Faculty Mike Strohschein, Kelly Erby, Jennifer Ball, Shaun Schmidt, Melanie Burdick, Becky Dodge, Norma Juma and Amy Westbrook, law professor in the School of Law.

• Staff Loren Ferre, Christa Smith, Eric Moss, Tiffany McManisa and Mark Noble.

More: Longtime Washburn University president Jerry Farley announces retirement

The members of the committee come from recommendations from Regent, faculty and community sources, board president Shelly Buhler said.

"Washburn is important to the greater Topeka community and northeastern Kansas, and I think we have a good group to represent that," she told The Capital-Journal. "They're going to put together a leadership profile for a president. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I'm very appreciate that Greg Greenwood will be chairing our work."

Greenwood is a 1988 alumnus of Washburn University, joining the then-named Westar energy company as an accountant. He then rose through the ranks, ultimately becoming Evergy's executive vice president and chief strategy officer. He retired from the company earlier this month.

In the spring, Greenwood and his wife paired with another Topeka couple to sponsor a $1 million donation program in which anyone who includes Washburn as a beneficiary of their estate receives $10,000 from the program to direct to any university initiative.

More: Washburn Regents hire WittKiefer to lead search for Jerry Farley's successor

With a search committee in place, the Washburn Regents now turn to appointing an interim president to bridge any gap between Farley's retirement on Sept. 30 and the hire of his permanent successor.

WittKiefer previously told the board to plan on hiring a president no sooner than the end of 2022. The Regents next meeting is Aug. 18, during which they'll hear from representatives of WittKiefer in person and tentatively appoint an interim president.

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at ‪785-289-5325‬. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Washburn Regents continue process to find next university president