New College of Florida Invites Five Presidential Candidates to Campus for Interviews

March 12, 2021 – Sarasota

The New College of Florida Presidential Search Committee has invited five candidates to campus for further interviews and meetings with members of the NCF community. The next president will succeed Donal O’Shea, who has led New College since 2012. The five candidates are:

• Jane Fernandes, President (on sabbatical) and Professor of English, Guilford College
• Patricia Okker, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English, University of Missouri
• Rhonda Phillips, Inaugural Dean, Honors College, and Professor of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
• Alan Shao, Dean, School of Business, Interim Vice President for Corporate Partnerships, and Professor of Marketing, College of Charleston
• Michael Sosulski, Provost, Wofford College

“We have selected five outstanding candidates whose professional qualifications and leadership experience align most closely with the qualities for our next president that were laid out in the leadership profile,” says Presidential Search Committee Chair Mary Ruiz, who also chairs the New College Board of Trustees. “I look forward to further conversations with the candidates and encourage all members of the New College community to take the opportunity to interact with the candidates at the upcoming public meetings.”

The search committee conducted first-round interviews earlier this week with 12 applicants selected from a national pool of more than 130 candidates. The five finalists, whose cover letters and CVs are posted on the New College Presidential Search website, will visit campus between March 29 and April 9 for in-person and virtual meetings. The Board of Trustees will convene to select the new president on or before the Board meeting on or before 1:30 pm April 20, 2021.