MILLEDGEVILLE — Georgia Military College will say farewell to its longest serving president in the history of the college, Maj. Gen. Peter Boylan (Ret.), at the end of the academic term in June and welcome its new 21st president.

“The time the president announced through the Board of Trustees to retire at the end of the school year, we engaged with a search firm to assist us in finding a replacement, which was the Parker Executive Firm out of Atlanta,” said. Col. Fred Van Horn, executive vice president of GMC. “We’ve been working on this for about three months now. By way of going through advertisements and following up on leads that were provided to them through various contacts, [the firm] identified approximately 35 applicants for the position.”

The pool of applicants was refined down to eight in early January. A search committee, composed of 16 members selected by Board of Trustees Chair Randy New, interviewed the eight candidates during a two-day session in Atlanta.

“The selection committee included members of the committee, from the realms of Georgia Military College, and members of staff and faculty. They have now narrowed it down to four applicants. They are people who have had on average 30 years of professional experience, military experience in large measure, have held command and staff positions of very high authority, and are successful in academic, business and leadership environments,” Van Horn said. “In all four cases, they have convinced the selection committee that they’re passionate about higher education and they want to carry that passion out into higher education at Georgia Military College.”

The final four candidates qualified to serve as GMC’s next president are:

• Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV currently serves as the commander of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the command that oversees the Command and General Staff College and 17 other schools, centers and training programs located throughout the United States. Caldwell’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star, Humanitarian Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Presidential Service Identification Badge, Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge and Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1976. He earned master’s degrees from the United States Naval Postgraduate School and from the School for Advanced Military Studies at the United States Army Command and General Staff College. Caldwell also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as a senior service college fellow.

• Maj. Gen. William Grimsley is chief of staff for the United States Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., where he is the principal advisor to the commander and deputy commander, and directs the activities of the command staff by developing and implementing policies and procedures in support of the command’s missions. Grimsley’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal (5th award), and several campaign and service awards. Additionally, he is awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff Identification Badges. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Armor Officer Advanced Course, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies and Army War College where he served as a fellow in the Advanced Strategic Arts Program. In addition to his bachelor of arts degree, Grimsley has a master of military arts and sciences degree and a master of national security and strategy degree.

• Lt. Gen. Purl K. Keen is the commander for the Office of the Defense Representative- Pakistan for U.S. Central Command. Keen’s awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Pathfinder Badge, Combat SCUBA Diver, Combat Infantry Badge, Expert Infantry Badge and Master Parachutist Badge. He graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and with a master’s degree from the University of Florida in Latin American area studies. He has also studied at the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, United States War College and Brazilian Command and General Staff College.

• Brig. Gen. Robert M. McCaleb is deputy director, program analysis and evaluation, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, U. S. Army, Washington, D.C. McCaleb’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Parachutist Badge, Army Aviator Badge, Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge and Army Staff Identification Badge. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a bachelor’s degree and continued to earn master’s degrees in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and in strategic studies from the United States Army War College. He also attended the Armor Officer Basic Course, Aviation Officer Advanced Course, United States Army Command and General Staff College, and United States Army War College.

The final four applicants will be invited to the Milledgeville campus at the end of the month through mid-February for on-campus interviews.

“At that time, we’ll introduce the applicants to the staff, faculty, students, the Board of Trustees and to the Milledgeville community through a series of interview sessions,” Van Horn said. “The Board of Trustees will make a decision whether or not to select from one of those four applicants. I expect the Board of Trustees will have made a decision by the end of February at the latest.”

The president of GMC is the college’s chief executive officer and reports to the Board of Trustees. The president is also the senior management official of the college, responsible to the Board of Trustees for the strategic direction, overall financial performance and operational effectiveness of the college. Also tasked by the Board of Trustees, the president administers and conducts the affairs of the college, leading the faculty and staff in the development of exceptional students who succeed academically, possess solid values and are physically fit.

“Gen. Boylan is in his 21st year as president of Georgia Military College. He is the 20th president of Georgia Military College and is the longest-serving president in the history of the college,” Van Horn said. “At a later point, we will go through a series of events that will celebrate his time at Georgia Military College ... and the impact he has had on this community.”

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