June 14, 2023
A letter from President Richard Linton
Submitted by President Richard Linton
Dear K-State Community,
Yesterday, Provost Taber announced his intent to retire at the end of the fall 2023 semester. First and foremost, I want to thank Provost Taber for his leadership these past five years — and for his continued leadership through the end of the calendar year. This university and its people have benefited greatly from the provost's service and dedication to our mission, and I am immensely grateful for the many leaps forward his tenure has brought to K-State. We will be making plans for a retirement celebration for the provost to occur toward the end of the fall 2023 semester.
In the meantime, I also write to you today to answer the inevitable question: What's next? In the coming weeks, we will start the process of bringing together a search committee that will lead the charge in finding the next great provost for Kansas State University. If you would like to nominate someone to serve on this search committee, please complete this brief survey to share your thoughts. I anticipate that we will formally stand up the committee in July and conduct interviews in the first half of the fall semester, with the goal to have our new provost in place by early 2024. We will share more details on the search once the committee selection has been finalized.
Change like this is always a double-edged sword. We first feel a loss for our university as our trusted colleague moves on to the next great phase in his life, but we also know we must look to the future with optimism, as that is the K-State way. Together, we will foster a smooth transition and carry on our vision of becoming a next-generation land-grant university!
Go 'Cats!
Richard Linton
President