Higher education officials in Maryland have called seasoned college administrator Dr. Mickey Burnim out of retirement to serve as interim president of the University of Maryland at Eastern Shore (UMES) starting next week as a replacement for retired president Dr. Juliette Bell.
Bell, who turned 63 in April, announced in February her plans to step down June 30 at the end of her sixth year as chief of the rural Maryland campus.
“It’s that time in life I wanted to enjoy some other things,” Bell said in an interview with Diverse on Monday, referring to time that she wants to spend with her five grandchildren and completing some writing projects.
“I’m keeping the door open,” she said in response to a question about whether she would come back to college administration. “It’s a 24/7 job physically and mentally. It’s time” for a break, she said.
Burnim, who retired this month a year ago after 10 years as president of Maryland’s Bowie State University, was in campus briefings all of last week in preparation for the transition. He could not be reached for comment about his interim assignment, which begins Thursday of this week.
Several of Burnim’s higher education peers spoke highly of his selection as interim chief of UMES, one calling it “an exceptional idea. He’s a strong guy, very competent,” the colleague said.
The University of Maryland System has hired Academic Search, one of the nation’s oldest and leading academic executive search firms, to assist in what the university expects to be a nationwide search for a successor to Bell, a biochemist who came to UMES from Central State University in Ohio, where she was chief academic officer.
