Former law dean to serve as interim president as panel guides presidential search

Paul G. Mahoney, a law professor and dean of the Law School from 2008 to 2016, was elected interim president of UVA in a special Board of Visitors meeting Monday. Mahoney will begin his new job Aug. 11, UVA said in a news release.

Also at the special meeting, staff gave the board an update about the committee to assist in the search for a permanent president. On July 25, university leadership announced the names of 28 people to serve on that committee. The committee will be led by the rector and vice rector and also includes high-profile alumni, UVA Health and athletics leaders, faculty members, students and parents of students.

The moves are the latest in the university’s efforts to provide stability and calm the concern that erupted on Grounds and among alumni, students and supporters after then-President Jim Ryan (Law class of ’92) announced his resignation June 27.

Ryan resigned in part to quell the unrest created by a Justice Department inquiry into the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Similar DEI concerns have arisen at other universities, but pressure mounted on Ryan in particular starting in mid-June. In announcing his resignation, he said he was concerned that continuing his presidency would result in severe financial consequences to the university.

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Wagner Davis was named acting president and will remain in that role until Mahoney begins his job Aug. 11.

Mahoney is well known not only in UVA administrative circles but also within the broader legal network of securities regulation, corporate finance, contracts and financial derivatives, according to a news release from UVA. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale Law School, Mahoney clerked for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and practiced with Sullivan & Cromwell, a global law firm specializing in corporate transactions, before joining the Law School in 1990. During his 35 years at UVA, he has received the All-University Outstanding Teacher Award and the Traynor Award from the Law School.

Before the BOV went into closed session, staff presented a summary of qualities that the nominating process had identified for the interim president position. Seven listening sessions were held in July, each one for a specific constituency. Those included health, student, staff and faculty leaders; deans; vice presidents; and the UVA Wise chancellor.

The list of preferred qualities was long. Various constituents said the interim president should be an experienced academic leader with a deep knowledge of UVA’s history and faculty-shared governance, staff said. The person should have an “unwavering moral compass,” be empathetic, authentic and nonpartisan. They also should be able to make tough decisions collaboratively and transparently.

The interim president search committee received 599 nominations for 143 people, staff shared in the presentation. Five received more than 30 nominations each.

During the meeting, Rector Rachel W. Sheridan (Col class of ’94, Law class of ’98) referenced the thoughtful and engaged process, and compared it with the 2012 appointment of Carl Zeithaml as interim president. “We’ve done a lot of diligence on our side as to how the process works both with respect to the 10th search committee as well as with respect to the interim. There’s very limited experience with interim search processes,” she said. “The only time that I know of that an interim was selected at UVA, it was done in a couple of hours and it lasted about a day. And so we did not want that outcome.”

Sheridan said in a statement that Mahoney is the right person to lead UVA at this time.

“We are confident that Paul’s longstanding connection to the university as a faculty member and dean of the Law School, as well as his extensive achievements as a lawyer, professor and public servant, make him the right leader to guide this institution as the search for a 10th UVA president gets underway,” she said in the statement released by the university. “The board extends our heartfelt thanks to Paul for accepting this role, as well as to J.J. Davis for the stability and leadership she provided over the past several weeks.”

Mahoney was unavailable for comment Monday.

The special meeting was publicly announced Aug. 1, a week after the university announced the formation of the special committee to recommend a permanent presidential candidate to the BOV. The first meeting of the 28-member committee is expected to take place in August or September.

The committee includes 17 UVA alumni—many with multiple degrees—and more than a dozen current or former members of the Board of Visitors. Two members—Babur Lateef (Educ class of ’26) and former Rector George Martin (Col class of ’75)—served on the 2017 presidential search committee that recommended Ryan. Three current UVA students, including Lateef, are on the committee.

In its statement on the special committee, the university said it will be responsible for identifying, recruiting, screening and recommending candidates. An executive search firm will also assist. UVA said it will encourage students, faculty, alumni, parents and others to inform the process via town halls to be held across the state and also through input via a website that the school will launch. The site will also post regular updates on the process, the university said. It did not provide a date for the website launch.

Lateef, who served on the Board of Visitors for eight years, said he hopes to represent the interests of the residents of Virginia as well as the students, faculty and staff at UVA.

“I care deeply about UVA’s mission to the state,” said Lateef, who is chair of the Prince William County School Board in addition to being a practicing ophthalmologist and a doctoral student in education at UVA. The future president needs to understand UVA’s relationship with the state, he said, while at the same time understand UVA’s history, mission and vision.

“It needs to be someone willing to grow and understand the challenges of artificial intelligence, increased competition for federal funding and the environment they’re coming into,” Lateef said.

Lateef said he’s confident that committee chair Sheridan will ensure an open and inclusive process to find the next president. The co-chair will be vice rector Porter Wilkinson (Law class of ’07).

Other members of the search committee:

• Kenyon Bonner: UVA vice president and chief student affairs officer. Bonner is the parent of a UVA student.
• Philip Bourne: Founding dean, School of Data Science; professor of biomedical engineering.
• Marvin Bush (Col class of ’79): Managing partner, Winston Partners Group; vice president, Virginia Athletics Foundation. Bush is the son of the late U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush and the brother of former U.S. President George W. Bush.
• Quana Dennis (Educ class of ’23, class of ’24, class of ’31): Former teaching faculty member, Saint Anne’s-Belfield School. Dennis is a UVA doctoral student.
• Jim Donovan: Member, UVA BOV; vice chairman, global client coverage, at Goldman Sachs; adjunct professor, UVA School of Law; board member, Karsh Institute of Democracy. Donovan is the parent of a UVA student.
• Pam Edmonds (Col class of ’91): Trustee emerita, the College Foundation; trustee emerita, UVA Health Foundation. Edmonds is the parent of a UVA student.
• Marvin Gilliam Jr. (Col class of ’78): Member, UVA BOV; owner and manager, MAM Development; trustee, Virginia Athletics Foundation
• Peter Grant (Col class of ’78, Darden class of ’86): Founding partner of Anchormarck Holdings; chair of UVA’s recently concluded Honor the Future capital campaign.
• John Harris (Com class of ’82): Member, UVA BOV; previous managing director, chief financial officer and senior adviser for Carlyle.
• Jim Lambert (Engr class of ’90, class of ’94): Janet Scott Hamilton and John Downman Hamilton Professor at the UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science; UVA BOV Faculty Senate representative.
• David Leblang: Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Endowed Professor of Politics at the College of Arts & Sciences; professor of public policy, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; director of policy studies, UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs.
• Paul Manning: Member, UVA BOV; chair, UVA Health System Board; chair and CEO of PBM Capital.
• Lori McMahon: UVA vice president for research; professor of neuroscience.
• Sherri Moore (Col class of ’85): Associate professor, McIntire School of Commerce.
• John Nau (Col class of ’68): Member, UVA BOV; chair and CEO of Silver Eagle Beverages.
• David Okonkwo (Col class of ’94, Intern class of ’01, Res class of ’06): Member, UVA BOV; professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
• Gregory Perryman (Col class of ’26): UVA BOV student representative; part of UVA’s honors politics program.
• Amanda Pillion (Educ class of ’97, class of ’99): Member, UVA BOV; former mayor of Abingdon, Virginia. She is the parent of a UVA student.
• Jimmy Reyes: Former member, UVA BOV; owner, Reyes Holdings.
• Adam Richard: Co-chair, UVA Staff Senate Executive Committee.
• Mitch Rosner (Res class of ’00, Fellow class of ’02): Chair, UVA Department of Medicine; Henry B. Mulholland Professor of Medicine; interim executive vice president for health affairs at UVA Health.
• Gretchen Walsh (Com class of ’25): Olympic gold medalist; world record holder; NCAA Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year (swimming and diving).
• Doug Wetmore (Col class of ’88, Law class of ’91): Member, UVA BOV; senior vice president for business development, Centauri Health Solutions.
• Carla Williams: UVA director of athletics. Williams is the parent of a UVA student.