The people who will select UK’s new president have been named.

Britt Brockman, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said the Presidential Search Committee is a “nice, well-balanced committee.”

He said the committee is well-rounded in terms of gender, racial and geographic diversity.

The 13-person committee is made up of Board, faculty, staff, student and alumni representatives, Brockman said.

Brockman selected the members for the committee from the Board, student and alumni nominations, but said he had “no say-so” in the selection of the faculty representatives.

The Staff Senate has not selected their nominations yet, Brockman said, but he will choose one representative when the Staff Senate sends him those nominations.

Two UK students were selected to be on the committee.

Student Government President Ryan Smith will serve as the graduate student representative.

“I’m in the unique position to help select the next president,” Smith said.

Smith said his work with President Lee Todd, the Board and SG has shown him the qualities important for a university president.

Taylor Cox, a political science and pre-dentistry junior, was chosen to be the undergraduate student representative.

“I was incredibly excited when I received the notification from the Board,” Cox said.

Cox said his work in student organizations allows him to see the impact the president has on the university community.

“I think it’s incredibly important for the president to care about … students,” Cox said.

Now that members have been selected, Brockman said the committee’s next step is to select a professional search firm to aid in the selection process by Dec. 1.

Brockman said he has put forth an ambitious timeline for the committee to work on.

Nominees for potential candidates should be in by February, and off-campus interviews will begin in March, Brockman said. By April, the applicant pool will be narrowed and on-campus interviews will begin.

Brockman said May 1 is the tentative date for the nomination of the new president.

He said the committee’s diversity will help them in the selection of the new president.

“(I) picked who I thought would be the best representatives of the University of Kentucky at this time,” Brockman said.

According to the news release, the members of the Presidential Search Committee are:

Board of Trustee Members

• Jim Stuckert, chair of the search committee
• Jo Hern Curris
• Pamela May
• Everett McCorvey
• Billy Joe Miles
• Terry Mobley

Alumni Representative

• Myra Tobin

Faculty Members

• Sheldon Steiner, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Hollie Swanson, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology, College of Medicine and University Senate chair
• Lee Meyer, Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture

Students

• Ben Taylor Cox, undergraduate
• Ryan Smith, graduate student and Student Government president