SOUTHFIELD – Lawrence Technological University’s presidential search committee will embark on a national search and be chaired by Douglas E. Ebert, announced Lloyd E. Reuss, chair of the 4,500-student private university’s board of trustees.

Ebert, a trustee and chair of the board’s finance committee, is chief operating officer of the Cranbrook Educational Community and previously spent 33 years in the financial services industry.

On June 30, Lawrence Tech President Lewis N. Walker announced his plans to step down from the presidency at the end of the coming academic year.

Ebert is now in the process of forming the search committee that will be comprised of additional trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and representatives of the University’s external constituencies.

Additionally, the board of trustees has retained the services of R. William Funk & Associates, one of the nation’s leading higher education search consultants. Among the prominent private or public institutions being led by individuals that Funk helped recruit are Cornell University, Purdue University, Georgia Tech, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Washington, University of Minnesota, and Iowa State University.

Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, offers more than 100 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs in the Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Management. Founded in 1932, the 4,500-student, private university pioneered evening classes and today has a growing number of weekend and online programs. Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus is in Southfield, and programs are also offered in Detroit, Lansing, Petoskey, Traverse City and Toronto. Lawrence Tech also partners with universities in Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.