Who’s Next to Lead? Inside the Shifting Leadership Pipeline in Higher Education
Higher education is entering a pivotal moment—one where the traditional pathways to leadership are no longer keeping pace with the demands of the role.
Turnover is rising. Expectations are shifting. And institutions are grappling with how to identify, prepare, and support the next generation of leaders.
From their unique vantage point across hundreds of leadership searches, executive search firms have a front-row seat to these changes. They see not only who is stepping into leadership—but who isn’t, why that matters, and what it signals about the future of the leadership pipeline.
In this candid panel discussion, search firm leaders will share what they are seeing across the landscape—and what it reveals about how leadership pathways are evolving, where they may be breaking down, and how institutional practices are shaping outcomes in ways that are often invisible from the inside.
You’ll walk away with:
- A sharper understanding of emerging patterns in how leaders are identified, evaluated, and advanced
- Insight into how expectations for leadership are shifting across roles, institutions, and contexts
- A clearer view of how institutional structures may be enabling—or constraining—the development of future leaders
- Practical perspective to help you rethink how your institution is building (or limiting) its leadership pipeline.
Our Panelists:
Melissa Fincher |
Melissa brings extensive experience supporting higher education, nonprofit, and academic medicine clients in identifying and attracting senior leaders across marketing, communications, advancement, and the arts. She began her career at Rutgers University and went on to hold roles at Johns Hopkins University in external affairs and development, where she contributed to institutional partnerships and priority initiatives. She later served as a talent and organizational development consultant at The Ohio State University, where she developed strategic initiatives to grow, develop, and diversify a large and complex workforce. Her work today focuses on helping institutions attract leaders equipped for an increasingly dynamic higher education environment.
Elizabeth Neustaedter |
Liz focuses on communication and advancement searches at Isaacson, Miller, where she has worked since 2002. She has partnered with a wide range of leading institutions, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Princeton University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Known for her thoughtful and service-oriented approach, Liz has placed numerous senior communications leaders at institutions such as Brown University, UC Berkeley, and Grinnell College. Earlier in her career, she spent more than seven years in the for-profit sector as a management and marketing consultant, leading global projects in strategic planning, market research, and philanthropic capacity assessment.
Mary Worland Napier |
Mary founded NES in 2014 and has built a reputation for guiding colleges and universities in identifying and securing top leadership talent. With more than 40 years of experience in higher education, she previously held senior enrollment leadership roles, including chief enrollment officer at Stetson University and interim vice president at Manhattanville University, along with earlier roles in admissions at the University of Tulsa and Ripon College. She also served as a consultant with the National Research Center for College and University Admissions (Encoura), supporting institutions in expanding and diversifying their applicant pools. Today, she continues to advise institutions and candidates on leadership searches in an evolving higher education landscape.
Our Panel Facilitator:
Rob Zinkan, Ed.D. |
Rob is founder and principal of Navigate Gray, an organization design firm serving higher education, and a Faculty Fellow with the Center for Higher Education Leadership and Innovative Practice (CHELIP) at Bay Path University. For nearly 30 years, he has worked in and with colleges and universities to strengthen institutional positioning, leadership alignment, and organizational capability. Previously, Rob served as vice president for marketing leadership at RHB and spent nearly two decades at Indiana University in senior roles including campus vice chancellor and system-wide associate vice president. He is co-author of What Makes a Strategic Plan ‘Strategic’? and co-editor of Inside Higher Ed’s “Call to Action” column.