The Luther College community received an email from Chair of Luther College Board of Regents Bob Paulson (‘78) on October 18 announcing that Provost Brad Chamberlain was chosen as the next president of Luther and inviting all to a formal introduction to Chamberlain as the president-elect.
The announcement comes after current President Jenifer K. Ward announced her retirement from the position. Chamberlain is set to transition into the presidency after Ward retires on June 30, 2025.
At the introduction held in the Center for Faith and Life’s (CFL) Main Hall, Paulson, Ward, and Luther College Board of Regents Vice Chair Shannon Duval (‘95) spoke about the selection process. Speaking on behalf of the Board of Regents, Paulson explained why Chamberlain was chosen.
“The Regents very thoughtfully and intentionally chose to act decisively to secure Brad Chamberlain as Luther’s next president because we believe that Brad is the absolute right and best choice to lead Luther College during this time of rapid and unprecedented change in higher education,” Paulson said. “We are blessed and fortunate to elect a member of the Luther College family as Luther’s 12th president — someone who is a proven leader, a national-caliber talent. Someone who chose Luther and who has chosen to stay at Luther and continue to serve this college in the ultimate leadership role.”
To select the next president, a presidential selection committee was formed, which included one student — Jaraad Ahmed (‘25) — various faculty members, and several members of the Board of Regents. They worked with the executive search consulting firm WittKieffer to assess a pool of national candidates and to survey the Luther community to see what values were important in the next president. The survey found that the Luther community values passion, creativity, and a principled leader. According to Duval, WittKieffer agreed that Chamberlain was a promising candidate.
“Congruent with defining the characteristics for our new leader, WittKieffer confirmed that we had a national-caliber talent in our own backyard,” Duval said. “This was more than noticing that Brad’s strengths aligned with the profile. With the search firm’s help, we were able to determine that compared to other candidates who were in a national search for a college presidency, there was one resume that rose to the top. When benchmarked against national candidates, Brad’s qualifications are exemplary.”
Student Liz Clement (‘26) agrees with the Board of Regents’ decision and sees promise in Chamberlain acting as president.
“I think that he is a decent candidate,” Clement said. “He has good morals and values from what I have seen that I think would translate well into being president.”
Chamberlain has been at Luther for 23 years. He began as a visiting assistant professor of chemistry and occupied a number of administrative positions over the years, including provost.
The Luther College Board of Regents voted unanimously to approve Chamberlain as the president-elect. Following Duval, Chamberlain spoke about his history at Luther and highlighted that a sense of community is what he plans on focusing on in his new position. To finish his speech, Chamberlain referenced Luther’s several published histories including “Stability and Change” by Leigh Jordahl and relates it to his current mission as future president.
“In my mind, we are living into and being asked to write today a new chapter to ‘Stability and Change,’” Chamberlain said. “What I want you to hear most in this moment is that this is not my chapter, this is our chapter. I look forward to writing it with you.”
