by , [email protected]

Northern Kentucky University named Gerard St. Amand its interim president Wednesday in a unanimous vote by the Board of Regents.

St. Amand came to NKU as dean of the Chase School of Law in 1999 and has been a professor in the law school since 2013. Prior to that position, he served as vice president for university advancement from 2006 to 2013.

“If there is one trait that defines his career path, it is dedication,” Rich Boehne, board chair, said in a message to the NKU community.

Boehne said St. Amand’s experience with the university, “his familiarity with the strategies and culture that have come to define NKU, in addition to his proven and diverse leadership skills” make him a strong candidate for the interim position.

The choice also allows “senior campus leaders to continue their demanding roles without having to take on additional duties during this transition,” Boehne said.

It’s unclear how much, if any, additional salary St. Amand will earn in his new role. He will take over for Geoffrey Mearns, who served nearly five years as president at NKU, in May after the spring graduation ceremonies. Mearns announced in January that he would leave NKU to become president of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

NKU is soliciting bids from executive search consultants to assist in finding a new president. The board had expected to select a firm in early March, but it has not yet named one.

The university also plans to host open forums on and off campus this spring to get feedback about NKU’s priorities and qualities needed in the next president. Recommendations will help NKU leaders draft a job description and open the application pool in April.

The board expects to interview candidates over the summer and hire a new president by Sept. 1, according to NKU’s public request for proposals from search firms.

The search firm will work with a university-led search committee that will conduct off-site interviews with eight to 10 candidates and submit an unranked list of finalists to the board, which will decide NKU’s sixth president.

The university announced that board member Norm Desmarais, chairman of TiER1 Performance Solutions, will chair the search committee and these faculty, staff and community representatives will serve as committee members:

  • David Bauer – Heavy Equipment/Grounds Operator, Operations and Maintenance
  • Martin Butler – Attorney, Strauss Troy (Chase ’77)
  • Garren Colvin – CEO, St. Elizabeth Healthcare (MBA ’96)
  • Brent Cooper – President and Owner, C-Forward Information Technology
  • Maureen Doyle – Chair & Associate Professor, Computer Science
  • Virginia Fox – Regent, Former Executive Director and CEO, Kentucky Educational Television
  • Rachel Green – Director, Human Relations and EEO, Human Resources
  • Francoise Kazimierczuk – NKU Assistant Professor, Allied Health
  • Wendy Lea – CEO, Cintrifuse
  • Monica Molestina – Undergraduate student, Organizational Leadership and Spanish
  • Dannie Moore – Assistant Vice President, Student Inclusiveness
  • David Raska – Assistant Professor, Marketing, Economics and Sports Business
  • Cindy Reed – Dean, College of Education and Human Services
  • Dennis Repenning – Regent, Attorney, Dennis Repenning PSC (Chase ’79)
  • Lee Scheben – Regent, Executive Vice President, Heritage Bank (Chase ’91)
  • David Singleton – Associate Professor, Chase College of Law
  • Rebecca Walker – Acting Director, College of Informatics Advising
  • Matthew Zacate – Associate Professor, Physics & Geology