Letter to the Boston University Community (A Letter from Board of Trustees Chair)
Dear Members of the Boston University Community,
With Commencement around the corner and another successful academic season drawing to a close, we would like to update you on the search for Boston University’s next president.
Since launching our effort last fall, the Search Committee and Board of Trustees have considered excellent candidates from highly regarded institutions across the country and around the world. It is a testament to Boston University that so many top prospects admire our accomplishments and momentum and are interested in being the leader of our next chapter.
The Search Committee is deliberating thoughtfully to ensure the next president is uniquely suited to lead Boston University into its next era of transformational achievement. To continue that process in a careful, unhurried, and strategic way, the Board has decided to appoint an interim president to oversee and guide the University when our current president, Robert A. Brown, steps down on July 31, 2023.
Today, we are pleased to announce that Kenneth Freeman, Vice President and Associate Provost and Dean Emeritus of the Questrom School of Business, has agreed to serve in that position. He will assume the interim role on August 1, 2023.
A valued member of the BU community for thirteen years, Dean Freeman brings deep experience, dedication, and talent to the position. He is a proven academic and administrative leader, having played an essential role in helping to transform Questrom during his eight years as dean. After stepping down from that position, he has served the University in several different capacities, from developing and teaching MBA courses to leading Human Resources during the pandemic to overseeing the creation of BU Virtual. Most recently, he created and led an executive leadership development program for selected faculty and staff.
After four decades in the private sector, including many years as a successful chair and chief executive officer of a major corporation, Dean Freeman made the switch to academia. Having chaired the Bucknell University Board of Trustees for nine of his seventeen years of board service to his alma mater, he has deep firsthand knowledge of university governance. From his academic to his corporate experience, he has demonstrated that he understands what it takes to guide forward a large, complex, multifaceted institution such as ours.
During this interim period, we are confident that Dean Freeman will provide valuable leadership for our faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, and other friends of BU. Equally important, he will ensure continuity on matters that remain crucial to the University: the implementation of the 2030 Strategic Plan; the growth of our research and scholarship activities; and our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have no doubt he will rally the BU community around our mission to educate, create knowledge, and confront society’s greatest challenges. We are pleased we had in place the ideal person to assume this interim position.
On behalf of the Boston University Board of Trustees, I wish you well as the semester nears an end. It has been another excellent year of progress and achievement at BU. As we salute Bob Brown and his transformational presidency, the Board looks forward to finishing the job of finding a worthy successor. We are confident and optimistic about that outcome. Until then, we know the University will be in very good hands.
With gratitude,
Ahmass L. Fakahany
Chair, Board of Trustees