The pull on his heartstrings brought Rogan Kersh back to Wake Forest University, but so did the opportunity to guide his alma mater to new academic terrain.
Kersh, 48, was named the new provost at Wake Forest on Friday, ending a nine-month search for Jill Tiefenthaler's replacement. A 1986 graduate of Wake Forest, Kersh was back on familiar ground Friday, meeting students, faculty and staff and greeting old acquaintances at a reception at Reynolda Hall.
"In one way, I never really left," said Kersh, a frequent visitor to the campus. "I've had wonderful and inspiring experiences working at other universities and have been in and out of politics in Washington, and still, Wake Forest has been an old gold and black thread that has run right through my life. It's such a communal and connected place."
Kersh is an associate dean of academic affairs and a professor of public policy at New York University. He has also taught at Syracuse University and Yale University, where he earned two master's degrees and a doctorate.
He will begin his job at Wake Forest on July 1.
As provost, Kersh will serve as the chief academic officer on the Reynolda campus and report directly to President Nathan Hatch.
A search firm hired by the university identified Kersh, who was also vetted by a search committee that included Hatch and faculty members.
Kersh's skills as a teacher, scholar, manager and colleague vaulted him above the competition, Hatch said.
"And he has this undefinable thing. He is that rare individual. All of those put in a Wake context, and it's exactly what we want. We want the highest standards and we want to build a real community," Hatch said. "And we think he can do that. And to top it off, he just loves this place and knows it well."
At NYU, Kersh helped set up several NYU branch campuses around the world and he introduced the residential college concept to NYU. In a residential college, students and faculty live in the same environment, often sharing meals together.
Those are areas that Kersh may be asked to explore at Wake, Hatch said.
Michael Hughes, a professor of history and the president of the faculty senate, said Kersh's academic and administrative credentials, as well as his longstanding ties to Wake Forest, made him a "promising candidate."
He didn't want to say what issues the senate would like to take up with Kersh until after Kersh gets settled on campus.
Kersh acknowledged he is returning to a far different campus than the one from which he graduated. The campus has added acreage, buildings and academic departments, changes that have transformed it from a regional liberal arts college to a prestigious national university.
While some alumni may pine for that smaller, more tightly knit campus, Kersh said Wake remains an endearing place that holds fast to many traditions.
"I've been in a bunch of different universities, and holding on to what was valued and treasured about the place while entering a new world of universities is a very difficult thing to do, and Wake Forest has gotten it right," Kersh said. "I want to hold on to the kind of values and practices that make this just not any university."
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