Burstein claim that he withdrew from Dickinson presidential search is disputed

Mark Burstein, the University’s executive vice president, told The Daily Princetonian Sunday morning that he has decided to remove his name from the search for the 28th president of Dickinson College, where he was one of two final candidates. Later that day, the school announced that it had chosen Nancy Roseman, the other top contender and a former dean at Williams College, for the position.

Burstein’s announcement came after he visited the Dickinson campus in Carlisle, Pa., on Thursday to give a speech and take questions from the college community.

“The visit ... reminded me of how much I enjoy to lead Princeton, so I decided to remove myself from the search,” Burstein said in an interview.

But according to one Dickinson student close to the search process who was not authorized to speak about the candidate selection process, Burstein did not withdraw his name from consideration. Instead, the search committee chose Roseman, now a biology professor at Williams who visited Dickinson earlier in the week, over Burstein on their respective merits.

“Mark Burstein was a finalist right until we selected the next president at Dickinson,” the student said.

Burstein came to the University in 2004 and is responsible for the physical campus and administrative services, including direct oversight of University services, audit and compliance, campus life, human resources, facilities and safety and administrative planning.

Burstein held several senior roles at Columbia for the 10 years before he came to Princeton. He also has experience in local government, investment banking and consulting.

Burstein earned his bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and his MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently sits on Vassar’s Board of Trustees.