Presidential Search

Kenyon's Board of Trustees has initiated a search for the College's 20th president. The new president will succeed Sean M. Decatur, who will step down after nearly a decade as Kenyon’s president to assume the presidency of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Provost Jeff Bowman, who has served as acting president since July 2022, will continue in that role until a successor is named. 

The Board of Trustees has engaged Storbeck Search to assist with the national search and appointed a presidential search committee with faculty, staff, student alumni and trustee representatives.

Updates regarding the search will be posted on this website and shared with the campus community by email.

Community Input

The search for Kenyon’s 20th president will be conducted with careful attention to and significant input from the College’s many stakeholders. The search committee will provide community members with a variety of opportunities to share views on qualities to seek in candidates and to nominate individuals. Recent opportunities include:

• Campus forum and stakeholder meetings. The search committee visited campus in mid-January to gather community input. They hosted a campus forum and met with members of the executive committee of the faculty, Student Council, Staff Council and Senior Staff. More than 100 people participated.
• Survey. Over 1,500 members of the Kenyon community provided input via an online survey: 1,004 alumni, 272 parents, 212 faculty and staff, 138 students, and 71 friends, neighbors and other supporters.
• Email the search committee. Offer additional feedback at presidentialsearch@kenyon.edu.