Wilkes University formally introduces eighth president
James Cousins, Ph.D., named the eighth president of Wilkes University, gives remarks at a press conference in the Eugene S. Farley Library.
Sydney Allabaugh | Times Leader
Bill Miller, chair of the Wilkes University Board of Trustees and presidential search committee, speaks to the crowd about the university’s next president.
Sydney Allabaugh | Times Leader
Roughly 100 people attended a press conference at which James Cousins was formally introduced as Wilkes University’s eighth president.
Sydney Allabaugh | Times Leader
James Cousins, Ph.D., named the eighth president of Wilkes University, gives remarks at a press conference in the Eugene S. Farley Library.
Sydney Allabaugh | Times Leader
Emma Miller, a Wilkes University student on the presidential search committee, speaks about the university’s next president.
Sydney Allabaugh | Times Leader
Bill Miller, chair of the Wilkes University Board of Trustees and presidential search committee, introduces the university’s next president.
Sydney Allabaugh | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes University formally introduced its eighth president, James Cousins, Ph.D., at a press conference Thursday on campus at the Eugene S. Farley Library.
“I understand the responsibility — the significant responsibility — that comes with this charge,” he said to the roughly 100 university stakeholders at the press conference. “I’m so very honored to serve as Wilkes University’s eighth president.”
Cousins is a historian of higher education with a long career in the field.
“I’ve spent most of my adult life studying education and its governance, what it means to be liberally educated, and the public-facing role of colleges and universities,” he said. “Alongside that, I’ve spent the better part of my academic and administrative career in higher education.”
He most recently served as president of Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Ky., beginning in 2024 and was previously an academic advisor, professor, department head, associate dean, and provost.
The 13 members of the presidential search committee — consisting of Wilkes students, faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees — unanimously chose Cousins for the position from more than 150 national applicants and 13 semi-finalists.
Committee members said they’re confident he can lead the university in a time of uncertainty for the university and in higher education. The university recently faced financial challenges amid shifting higher education trends and the rise of artificial intelligence.
“We meet these challenges with a clear vision for the future,” said Bill Miller, chair of the Board of Trustees and presidential search committee. “Part of that vision is a leader who appreciates the great responsibility that comes with that role.”
Miller said Cousins transformed the financial condition and expanded programming as president of Kentucky Wesleyan College, and he directed strategic initiatives in his previous positions.
“We kind of want to do the same thing going forward here at Wilkes,” Miller said.
Cousins begins his tenure Aug. 1 but has already spoken with several university stakeholders.
Strong communication skills were a key factor in the presidential search, following a November student protest over finances and leadership transparency. Shortly afterward, Greg Cant, Wilkes’ seventh president who had served in the role since 2020, announced he will retire this August.
Emma Miller, a mechanical engineering student on the search committee, said she thinks Cousins will do a better job for students.
“I think he’s going to get the job done of what we need and accomplish things, in athletics, arts and education, that we all have been missing,” she said.
She also said she thinks students will enjoy that he is personable and eager to make changes while uplifting existing traditions.
“I think all the students are going to receive that very well,” she said.
Cousins, who grew up outside Philadelphia and worked in Michigan and Kentucky, said he will continue to learn about the university and its history in Wilkes’ Eugene S. Farley Library, named after its first president, in the coming weeks.
“It is ironic, but history often does bring a fresh perspective to the challenges we face,” he said.
Miller said the university is still developing a strategic plan, but Cousins offered insight into what comes next.
“I think listening carefully, building trust personally and reinforcing institutional trust more globally, honoring those core commitments, and helping Wilkes move into its next chapter with great confidence,” Cousins said.
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