PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH Home (current) Intro Nominees Committee Process News Toward uncommon leadership Concordia University Wisconsin | Ann Arbor (CUWAA) has embarked on the search for its next president to boldly lead our critical Christ-centered mission. As the Church’s school, our next president must accelerate Concordia’s forward movement to educate 21st-century learners who go forth and lead uncommon lives of service and leadership for the sake of Christ throughout the Church and the world. Indeed, selecting the next president is the most important decision our Board of Regents will make. We are committed to this search. It will be a collaborative and transparent process that engages the Concordia community as, together, we seek God’s direction and leading. Our search will be successful by His ordaining and through the contributions of our students, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends. Please visit this webpage often for updates about the search and for details about how to engage in the work. Most importantly, I invite you to commit to fervent prayer for God’s guidance as we discern the way forward at Concordia University. We are, and will remain, one Concordia—hearts together. Yours in Christian Service, Richard Laabs Chair, CUWAA Board of Regents nominees The nominees are now being reviewed by a prior approval committee made up of the Presidents of the LCMS and CUS, as well as the chairman of the CUS Board of Directors. The nomination window was open from May 14 through July 15, 2021. Presidential search committee The Board of Regents, at its February 2021 meeting, identified the members of the Presidential Search Committee and charged the committee to lead the search process. The committee members meet the criteria for membership set in the by-laws of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod (LCMS) **, represent CUWAA’s values, confession, and culture, and know the university well. The committee will determine how students, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends can become involved in the search. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact the committee here. ** LCMS bylaws require that members of the search committee represent the Board of Regents, the faculty, and the staff. Faculty members and staff members must be members of LCMS congregations. Richard (Dick) Laabs CHAIR, BOARD OF REGENTS Harriet Pedersen VICE CHAIR, BOARD OF REGENTS Dwayne Jobst SECRETARY, BOARD OF REGENTS Jon Schumacher REGENT, BOARD OF REGENTS Mark Polzin REGENT, BOARD OF REGENTS Dale Robertson REGENT, BOARD OF REGENTS Rev. Dwayne Lueck PRESIDENT, LCMS NORTH WISCONSIN DISTRICT Christine Specht-Palmert CHAIR OF THE FOUNDATION BOARD Terry Donovan MEMBER, FOUNDATION BOARD Allen Prochnow EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND COO, AGENT OF THE BOARD Rev. Daniel Paavola, Ph.D. PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, THEOLOGY DEPARTMENT Leah Dvorak, Ph.D. VICE PROVOST FOR FACULTY AFFAIRS AND PROFESSOR Cynthia Fenske, DNP, RN, CNE ASSISTANT VICE PROVOST OF ACADEMICS, ANN ARBOR Kimberly Masenthin, MBA, SPHR ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Beth DeJongh, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCPP ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACY PRACTICE CONTACT THE COMMITTEE SEARCH PROCESS Select a step to learn more... 1 Plan (Winter/Spring 2021) 2 Identify (Spring/Summer 2021) LCMS bylaws specify the process by which candidates may be nominated for president at Concordia University. The nomination window closed July 15. From May 14-July 15, the following groups/individuals had opportunity to nominate a candidate for president: Congregations of the Synod (LCMS), the Board of Directors of the Concordia University System (CUS), the Board of Regents, and CUWAA faculty. Candidates were given opportunity to accept or decline their nomination. The Board of Regents will forward the names of willing nominees to the President of the Concordia University System. The CUS President, with the President of the LCMS and the chairman of the CUS Board of Directors, meet to consider the submitted nominees. The panel may choose to remove names from the list by its two-thirds majority vote. The list of prior-approved nominees is then returned to the university Board of Regents no less than sixty days from the receipt of the initial list. The list of approved nominees will be published on this website. 3 Discern and Select (Fall/Winter 2021-2022) Search documents LCMS Handbook 3.10.6.6 LCMS Handbook 3.10.6.6.2 Search Committee Charge Candidate Profile Community Survey Results & Findings Presidential search updates 11/24/21 Update – November 24, 2021 The CUWAA Board of Regents has received more than 50 comments regarding the Presidential Search. The window for comments closed on November 15, 2021. In accordance with Bylaw 3.10.6.6.2 (b) (8), the Board is reviewing all comments. 11/16/21 Search Update November 16, 2021 Board of Regents quarterly meeting, November 11, 2021 10/25/21 Approved List, October 25, 2021 The Presidential Search Committee of Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor (CUWAA) invites nominations of candidates in its search for Concordia’s 9th president. VIEW ARCHIVED UPDATES latest news CUWAA Presidential Search Committee calls for nominees Cario announced as Concordia University Wisconsin, Ann Arbor interim president Rev. Patrick T. Ferry, PhD, to retire as Concordia University president MORE NEWS live uncommon Concordia University Wisconsin | Concordia University Ann Arbor