The Citadel’s presidential search committee announces four finalists

February 16, 2026February 16, 2026 Faculty & Staff Featured News Releases

The Citadel’s presidential search committee has announced the four finalists to become the college’s 21^st president.

The four finalists are, in alphabetical order:

Lt. Gen. E. Miles Brown, USA, ‘95;
Lt. Gen. Thomas S. James Jr., USA (Ret.), ‘85;
Gen. Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie Jr., USMC (Ret.), ‘79; and
Maj. Gen. John H. Phillips, USA, ‘90

“We are excited by the selection of these four highly qualified finalists,” said Col. F. G. “Greg” Delleney, ’74, chairman of the Board of Visitors. “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.”

Lt. Gen. E. Miles Brown, USA, ‘95, is currently the Acting Deputy Commanding General of United States Army Transformation and Training Command. He was previously the Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Futures Command and the Commanding General, Combat Capabilities Development Command, U.S. Army Futures Command. He has a B.A. in History from The Citadel, and an M.S. in Administration from Central Michigan University and an M.S. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the National Defense University.

Lt. Gen. Thomas S. James Jr., USA (Ret.), ’85, previously served as the Commanding General, First United States Army. Prior to that he served as the Director of Operations, United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea and was the Commanding General of the 7^th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He has a B.S. in Business Administration from The Citadel, an M.M.A.S in Advanced Military studies from the Army Command and General Staff College and an M.S. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the National Defense University.

Gen. F. “Frank” McKenzie Jr., USMC (Ret.), ‘79, is currently the executive director of the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida. Previously, he served as the Commander, United States Central Command and as the Director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He also served as the Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy on the Joint Staff and was the Commander, U.S. Marine Forces, U.S. Central Command. He has a B.A. in English from The Citadel and an M.A.T. with a concentration in History from The Citadel.

Maj. Gen. John H. Phillips, USA, ’90, is currently the Director of Communications and Cyber Operations (J6), at the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. He was previously Director of IT Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution at Headquarters, US Army. He has a B.S. in electrical engineering from The Citadel and an M.S. in Strategic Studies from the Army War College.

After reviewing scores of applications and meeting with a short-list of candidates this past week, the presidential search committee announced the selections ahead of a final round of interviews. The final four candidates will return to The Citadel’s campus in the coming weeks for additional interviews as well as meetings with cadets, students, faculty and staff. The timing of these interviews has not been determined.

The 13-member presidential search committee – led by BOV member, and former board chairman, Dylan Goff, ’02 – narrowed the search down to the final four candidates. The next president will be selected from that group and voted on by the full BOV.

“I am eager for The Citadel community to get to know our finalists as we continue this important process,” said search committee Chairman Goff. “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.”

The 21^st president will succeed Gen. Glenn M. Walters, USMC (Ret.), ’79, who has led The Citadel since 2018. After nearly 50 years in uniform and eight years running his alma mater, Walters announced his retirement plans in December and will step down on June 30, 2026.