The Citadel chooses four candidates to serve as 21st president

As retirement closes in for the current president of The Citadel, the military college‘s presidential search committee has announced four finalists prepared to take his place.

Following roughly eight years as president and 50 years with The Citadel, Gen. Glenn Walters will retire on June 30, The Citadel said.

“We are excited by the selection of these four highly qualified finalists,” Col. F. G. “Greg” Delleney, chairman of the board of visitors, said in a news release. “The overwhelming number of interested applicants and the exceptional quality of candidates seeking to lead The Citadel are evidence of the college’s status as an elite institution. Each of these candidates, who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers, would be an exceptional leader of The Citadel.”

The candidates potentially taking Walters’ place are Lt. Gen. E. Miles Brown, Lt. Gen. Thomas S. James Jr., Gen. Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie Jr., and Maj. Gen. John H. Phillips. Brown is currently the acting deputy commanding general of the United States Army Transformation and Training Command. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from the Citadel in 1995.

Similarly, James previously served as commanding general for the U.S. Army, holding a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1985, according to the release. McKenzie is the executive director for the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida, with a Bachelor of Art in English from the Citadel in 1979.

Phillips is the current director of communications and cyber operations at the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Citadel in 1990.

“I am eager for The Citadel community to get to know our finalists as we continue this important process,” Dylan Goff, search committee leader and former board of visitors chairman, said in the release. “I would like to thank the search committee members for their enormous time commitment and dedication to The Citadel as they helped narrow a wide and impressive pool of candidates to find the next leader for the college.”

Over the next few weeks, The Citadel said the candidates will return to campus for additional interviews and meet with cadets, students, faculty and staff.