Bryn Mawr College likely to hire USC dean as its president

After an extensive search, a University of Southern California dean emerged as the top choice to become the seventh president of Pennsylvania's Bryn Mawr College. Nancy Vickers, dean of curriculum and instruction at USC's College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, will come to the private, all-female college February 2 for three days of meetings and forums with students and administrators. A 20-member search committee composed of students, faculty, staff and trustees endorsed Vickers unanimously, and Bryn Mawr's trustees will vote on the committee's recommendation at their February 12 meeting. Vickers would replace current Bryn Mawr President Mary Patterson McPherson when she leaves the college in May after holding the position for 18 years. McPherson, who first came to Bryn Mawr in 1961 as a graduate student, will begin her new job as a senior program officer at the Mellon Foundation in October. The search committee began the recruitment process by advertising within the higher education community and received approximately 130 viable applications, according to Bryn Mawr spokesperson Deborah Thomas. After narrowing down the field, Thomas explained that the committee divided itself into subcommittees and interviewed the most promising candidates. In January, the search committee met with the intention of choosing three finalists to invite to the college. Vickers, however, was such a clear first choice that no other finalists were selected. "The committee did not want to waste time and mislead the other candidates," Thomas said. She added that the committee looked for candidates who demonstrated academic achievement, fundraising potential, administrative experience and personal integrity -- and explained that Vickers combined all these qualities. "She has a record of achievement as a distinguished scholar as well as a highly-regarded administrator," Thomas said. Vickers, a 1967 graduate of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, earned masters and doctoral degrees from Yale University in 1971 and 1976, respectively. She taught at Dartmouth before joining the faculty of USC in 1987 as a professor of French, Italian and comparative literature. Vickers served as a visiting English professor at Penn in 1991 and became dean at USC in 1994. Thomas said the unanimous approval of the search committee means Vickers would be an acceptable choice throughout the Bryn Mawr community. "It is an inclusive search committee that represents the whole community," Thomas said. A USC spokesperson said Vickers was not at liberty to discuss the recruitment process or the likelihood of moving to Bryn Mawr until her appointment is finalized.