Penn College picks firm to assist with presidential search

Published 07.29.2021

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Pennsylvania College of Technology is partnering with Storbeck Search, an executive search firm specializing in leadership hiring for colleges and universities, to conduct a national search to replace retiring President Davie Jane Gilmour.

Storbeck Search, based in Media, Pennsylvania, is part of Diversified Search Group. In recent years, the firm has assisted with similar searches for multiple Penn State campuses, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Franklin & Marshall College, Susquehanna University and Swarthmore College, among others.



The Storbeck Search team will be led by Jim Sirianni, managing director. Before entering the executive search field, Sirianni led professional development programming for presidents, provosts and chief business officers at the American Council on Education and was a research consultant at EAB, where he worked on strategic issues facing provosts and related senior administrators. Earlier, he served as a dean and director at Stanford University and as a researcher at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

“We are pleased to have Storbeck Search partnering with us for the important task of identifying appropriate candidates to lead this unique institution into the future,” said Patrick Marty, chief of staff and liaison to the Penn College Board of Directors from the institution’s Presidential Search Committee. “We had an abundance of excellent firms from which to choose, but Storbeck Search stood out to our board members as the best fit for Penn College. We look forward to working with Jim Sirianni and the entire Storbeck team in this collaborative process.”

Storbeck Search will guide the college’s Presidential Search Committee – composed of seven faculty members, six administrators, four members of the Board of Directors and one current student – as they winnow a strong pool of candidates over the fall semester.

The firm’s search model also includes the garnering of significant input from stakeholders across campus, around the community and among the college’s industry partners, all on a timeline that results in selecting and announcing a new president between January and June 2022. The new president will take office on July 1, 2022.

Gilmour, who has served as Penn College’s president since 1998, announced in May that she will retire on June 30, 2022.

Penn College, a special mission affiliate of Penn State, is a national leader in applied technology education. For more, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free at 800-367-9222.