A Message from the Search Committee Chairs

At the beginning of this calendar year, Michael McBrien shared his decision to retire after eight years as Webb School of Knoxville’s President.  Michael has been a wonderful asset to our school as he led the development and execution of the school’s strategic plan, completed the $15M Reimaging Extraordinary capital campaign, and guided our school through the difficult COVID-19 pandemic.  He and his wife Betsy have been wonderful ambassadors for our school, and we look forward to celebrating them as Michael completes his service during the 2022-2023 school year.

Now, our attention turns to finding a leader who can build on Webb’s momentum. In the next few years, our new President will create the next strategic plan for the school, strengthen and motivate our outstanding faculty, and look for ways to deliver on Webb’s mission to build leaders of character.

The Board charged a diverse search committee with creating the position statement and conducting a national search to find Webb’s next leader.  As a part of our efforts, we have contracted with Ben Bolte and Marguerite Lloyd of Carney Sandoe and Associates to consult with us to ensure that we have a breadth of excellent candidates to consider.

This website will be a regular place for us to share updates with potential candidates and with the Webb community. 

There is a palpable sense of energy around Webb and around our region. We look forward to the process for finding the next leader who can capitalize on this progress and author the next chapter in Webb’s history.

John Tolsma and Mark Taylor, Search Committee Chairs

View the president Position Statement