Renaissance Legacy
President Franklin Follows
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
A
fter five years of leading one of the nation’s top historically black colleges, President Robert M. Franklin ’75 has decided to step down when his term ends on June 30, 2012. He will become scholar-in-residence at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Institute, but plans to return to Morehouse in the role of president emeritus and distinguished professor. “I look forward to a sabbatical, during which I intend to travel, write, speak and interview leaders about the condition of black boys and men in the U.S. and around the globe, research that I began years ago in my book, Crisis in the Village,” said Franklin. “I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for the invitation to return as President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics, and the opportunity to continue supporting the mission of Morehouse in a different way.” The Morehouse Board of Trustees has instituted a rigorous search to identify a successor. If a new president has not been selected by July 1, 2012, Franklin will continue in his current role until
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a new president has been selected by the board, but no later than Dec. 31, 2012. Since the announcement of President Franklin’s transition plans in January, a Presidential Search Committee has been established by the Board of Trustees to lead the search effort for his successor. The 13-member search committee is comprised of a diverse cross-section of representatives from the Morehouse College Board of Trustees, including students, alumni and faculty. Dean John Williams ’69, Division of Business and Economics, and General Counsel Robyn Crittenden are providing administrative support to the committee. The search committee has selected Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc., a premier international executive search firm with more than 55 years of experience in executive search and leadership consulting services. The firm has worked with search committees to identify outstanding leaders for a variety of private and public colleges and universities, as well as education-related institutions. “We are confident the search process will identify a strong pool of candidates from across the country,” said Robert Davidson