Presidential Announcement

Dear Colleagues:

Just moments ago, WMU's Board of Trustees formally voted to name Dr. Edward B. Montgomery the ninth president of Western Michigan University. We wanted you to be among the first to know.

Dr. Montgomery will join us on Aug. 1, coming to WMU from Georgetown University where he has served as professor of economics and dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy since 2010. Dr. Montgomery has an extensive background in both economics and national politics, having served in high-profile positions for both the Clinton and Obama administrations.

President-elect Montgomery's curriculum vitae and a complete news story on his appointment are available on the WMU home page. Please take a few moments to review the career path of our new president. You will be impressed by the depth and breadth of his accomplishments.

Dr. Montgomery is here on campus for a short time today with his wife, Kari. You'll have an opportunity to meet them from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Bernhard Center ballrooms. If you miss them today, don't worry. They'll be back to meet you in the future. The Montgomery family includes three grown children--Lindsay, Elizabeth and Edward.

Thank you for your patience during this process, for the confidence you placed in our Presidential Search Advisory Committee and for the important feedback you provided that helped set the search direction that ultimately led to the selection of Dr. Montgomery. Your insights were critical to the process.

We offer our thanks to the 22 members of the campus community who made up the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. They have worked hard since early last fall to ensure a successful outcome to the nationwide search. Please join us in thanking them. As a reminder, you'll find a list of those committee members here.

The coming weeks and months will be a time of transition and a time to recommit to building a University ready to move to even greater levels of accomplishment and innovation. It's time to add a new voice to the chorus of voices that knows it's always a Great Day to be a Bronco!

Best regards,

John M. Dunn
President

Jeffrey Rinvelt
Chair, WMU Board of Trustees