Smith Anderson Partner Leads Search for Wake Forest University’s 14th President

Smith Anderson Partner Gerald Roach has been tasked to lead the search for Wake Forest University’s 14th president in its nearly 200 year history. Gerald serves as the University’s Board of Trustees Chair, and he has also been named Chair of the committee appointed by the Board of Trustees to conduct the vital search to find the top 30 national university its next president, beginning immediately.

Service and support of higher education in North Carolina continues to be a matter of importance for Smith Anderson. The firm has made impactful strides in higher education in North Carolina, with three attorneys currently holding significant leadership positions at two top 30 national universities. In addition to Gerald’s leadership role at Wake Forest University, Smith Anderson attorney Richard Stevens serves as UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees Chair and led a similar search for UNC-Chapel Hill’s 12th chancellor at the conclusion of 2019, and Martin Brinkley is Dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law—the only lawyer in the modern history of the program to be appointed to the position from the practicing bar.

Numerous attorneys also serve as members of university and college boards, and the firm regularly represents educational institutions on a broad array of legal matters, including board governance, litigation, athletics, investigations, employment and joint ventures. Additionally, the firm’s technology attorneys regularly work with university spinouts in licensing and commercializing the technology developed at the universities.

Smith Anderson’s continued involvement with higher education uniquely positions the firm to understand the issues impacting public and private institutions. Additionally, the firm’s involvement at the leadership level of several major colleges and universities proudly provides the opportunity for Smith Anderson to help play a role in helping to shape the next generation of young professionals in the workforce and, by extension, the country’s economy.