Sabah Randhawa to start as WWU president Aug. 1

Western's 14th president, Sabah Randhawa, will begin his term in office on Monday, Aug. 1.

Making that announcement Tuesday morning were Karen Lee, chair of the WWU Board of Trustees, and Sue Sharpe, Chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. Lee and Sharpe sent the following message to students, faculty and staff at Western:

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Sabah Randhawa will begin his duties as the next President of Western on August 1.  The Board of Trustees has been negotiating the details of his contract over the past weeks and will convene again for a special meeting on May 10 to take official action finalizing the contract.

President Shepard will continue to serve as Western’s President until June 30, and on July 1 will be succeeded by current Provost and Vice President Brent Carbajal as Acting President until August 1.

Between May 10 and August 1, Dr. Randhawa will be coming to campus several times to meet with President Shepard and other campus leaders to continue learning about Western.  Of course, he also has a couple more items on his schedule, including the completion of the academic year as Provost of Oregon State University, moving with his wife Uzma Ahmad to Bellingham and settling into their new home, and hopefully taking a well-deserved rest between these two demanding leadership positions! 

As always, we cannot overstate our gratitude to the Western community for your engagement and support through the search process, and for the way in which you welcomed Sabah and Uzma to campus in April.  As the presidential transition process moves ahead over the upcoming months, we look forward to celebrating with you the tremendous service of Bruce and Cyndie Shepard, and welcoming Sabah and Uzma to our Western family.