Formal Announcement
We are thrilled to share that by unanimous vote the Berry College Board of Trustees has selected Dr. Sandeep Mazumder as the next President of Berry College. Dr. Mazumder will begin his role on July 1, 2025. View the news release.
Dr. Mazumder is an internationally respected economist and the current Dean of the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. He was born and raised in the United Kingdom, where he studied at the University of Cambridge before moving to the United States to complete his PhD at Johns Hopkins University. He served as an Economics Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Wake Forest University before assuming his current role at Baylor.
But more than Dr. Mazumder's academic credentials, the Search Committee and Board were impressed by his character, leadership, vision and deep commitment to the values we treasure at Berry. Throughout the process, he communicated a deep resonance with Martha Berry's vision "not to be ministered unto, but to minister." And he shares our commitment to an education of the head, heart and hands intended to inspire leaders of integrity to cultivate thriving communities. In word and deed, Dr. Mazumder has demonstrated this commitment throughout his career. He is now passionate about helping to grow and extend Martha Berry's vision for the school and becoming a part of the global community who consider Berry "home." Dr. Mazumder, his wife Gretchen, and their three children will move to Berry next summer and will work closely with the Board, President Briggs, and the faculty and staff to ensure a seamless and positive transition.
Our community should know that the process to select Dr. Mazumder was rigorous and intensive. The Search Committee spent eight months crafting the role, defining the characteristics of the next president, promoting the position, evaluating applications and interviewing candidates. We received feedback from hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni and interested community members. We reviewed more than 175 candidates including more than 20 sitting college presidents. This intense interest demonstrates the continuing resonance of Ms. Berry's vision, the community you have created and the position our college holds in the world of higher education. We identified a group of finalists, all with the capability to be exceptional college presidents.
Despite such a wealth of talent and interest in the position, Dr. Mazumder garnered unanimous support from the Committee and, subsequently, from the Board. We believe strongly that he has the integrity, vision, values and expertise to serve in this critically important role. In a world in which consensus is so rare, it is a credit to Dr. Mazumder that he inspired such confidence.
As we conclude our search, we would like to formally thank the members of the Committee who dedicated countless hours to this process, including Search Committee Vice Chair Sarah Hawkins Warren, Bert Clark, Michael Papazian, Grace Harmon, Brian Erb, Brad Bushnell, Brent Ragsdale, Mairo Akpose-Simpson, Angie Lewis and Sheila Allen. We are grateful to our search firm, CarterBaldwin, for their diligent work on this process, and to President Briggs for his continued leadership and conscientious support. And of course, we are grateful to each of you for being such an important part of this community and for diligently helping us to shape this search and this role.
We know that you will enjoy meeting Dr. Mazumder in the coming months. Thank you for your continued support for Berry College and your partnership in the very bright years ahead.
Sincerely,
John Coleman, Chair of the Search Committee
Rick Gilbert, Chair of the Board of Trustees