By Kalyn Story | Staff Writer

Baylor announced its members for the Presidential Search Committee in a statement Thursday morning.

The committee, which includes representatives from faculty, staff, administration, students, alumni and representatives from the Board of Regents, will be looking to find Baylor’s 15th president.

“The search committee will benefit greatly from its leadership, chair Bob Brewton and vice chair Dr. Andrea Dixon, both of whom are extraordinary people of faith and leaders in their respective fields,” Baylor University Board of Regents Chair Ronald D. Murff said in the statement. “We have a strong vision for the University in Pro Futuris, and we ask for the prayers of the entire Baylor family as we embark on this important search to identify the 15th president of Baylor University who will lead us forward.”

“The committee will be working with a firm to make a profile for a potential candidate and to assist in the search process,” said university spokesperson and Assistant Vice President for media communications Lori Fogleman.

Fogleman said that the committee expressed a desire to hire by June, but a deadline is not their first priority

“More important than the timeframe is to find the right person for the job,”Fogleman said.

Interim President David Garland, former dean of Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary and professor of Christian Scriptures will continue to lead the university until a president is named.

“As we commence this presidential search, we extend our deepest appreciation to our interim president, Dr. David Garland. The board and our Baylor family are thankful he answered the call to lead the University in this interim period, and we have full confidence in his exceptional leadership and faithful stewardship of Baylor University,” Murff said in the statement.

The committee consists of:

• Drayton McLane Jr. (Alumni), B.B.A. ’58, of Temple, Chairman of the McLane Group
• Richard B. Welday (Alumni), B.B.A. ’90, of Dallas, president of AT&T AdWorks, the advertising sales division of AT&T
• Kathy Wills Wright (Alumni), B.S.Ed. ’85, M.S.Ed. ’88, of Arlington, Virginia
• Bill Neilson, M.D. (Faculty), of Waco, associate dean of the Honors College at Baylor and senior lecturer and clinical professor in the Honors Program
• Kevin P. Jackson, Ph.D. (Staff/Administration), of Waco, vice president for student life
• Marjorie Ellis (Staff/Administration) of Waco, executive director of Career and Professional Development at Baylor
• Jonathan Siktberg (Student) of Nashville, Tennessee, senior Baylor Business Fellow
• Robert E. Beauchamp (Current Regent) of Houston, chairman and chief executive officer of BMC Software
• William S. Simon (Current Regent) of Rogers, Arkansas, former president and CEO of Walmart U.S.
• Dennis R. Wiles, M.Div. ’85, Ph.D. ’92 (Current Regent), of Arlington, pastor, First Baptist Church Arlington, Texas

The committee is being led by chair Bob Brewton, B.B.A. ’74, of Houston, president and principal owner of Brewton Investment Corp. and vice chair Andrea L. Dixon, Ph.D., The Frank M. and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professor in Marketing and executive director of the Center for Professional Selling and Keller Center for Research in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business.