Illinois Universities Pension Hires Search Firm to Find New Executive Director

NOW HIRINGWilliam Mabe, executive director of the State University Retirement System of Illinois (SURS), announced in September that he would be retiring on March 31.

SURS has now hired an executive search firm, the Hollins Group, to find his replacement before Mabe’s retirement date.

From the Associated Press:

The State Universities Retirement System has hired a search firm to help it find a new director.

The executive committee of the SURS board of trustees voted this month to hire The Hollins Group of Chicago.

Executive Director William Mabe (MAYB’) plans to retire in March.

Derrick Buckingham will serve as lead consultant. He is senior vice president and managing director for The Hollins Group.

In a September interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Mabe talked about the reasons behind his retirement:

Mabe, 67, said in an interview…that he could have stayed on for another three years, but chose to retire now to do other things with his life.

“I’ve been here for five years and I’ve stayed as long as I had planned to stay,” Mabe said. “The pension issue had nothing to do with it. It’s still lingering in the courts, and (the SURS leadership) did the heavy lifting we had to do. … I wanted to retire when that was completed and things were quiet.”

SURS has 227,000 members.

 

Photo by Nathan Stephens via Flickr CC License

Illinois Pension Board Director to Retire; Search for New Director Begins Soon

Board room chair

William Mabe, executive director of the State University Retirement System of Illinois, has announced that he will retire on March 31.

The System plans to hire a firm to search for and secure a new director by the time Mabe leaves his post.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

William Mabe, executive director of the State University Retirement System, will retire on March 31, and five of the 11 board members’ terms will expire next summer.

[…]

The board expects to hire a search firm at an Oct. 30 meeting to find a new executive director, and intends to choose the new leader by the time Mabe retires, a spokesman said.

Mabe, 67, said in an interview Thursday that he could have stayed on for another three years, but chose to retire now to do other things with his life.

“I’ve been here for five years and I’ve stayed as long as I had planned to stay,” Mabe said. “The pension issue had nothing to do with it. It’s still lingering in the courts, and (the SURS leadership) did the heavy lifting we had to do. … I wanted to retire when that was completed and things were quiet.”

There may be further turnover on the board, as the terms of five more trustees expire in June 2015.