Our Higher Education Practice has partnered with universities and colleges across the country in conducting over 900 comprehensive searches. Our clients include leading liberal arts colleges, community colleges, regional colleges and universities, large research universities, HBCUs, AAU institutions, health science centers, and secondary education institutions.
Today, more than ever, higher education is facing unprecedented challenges. We understand the situations facing these institutions, which is why we strive to provide the highest level of executive search excellence to our clients as we partner with them in recruiting exceptional, impactful leaders. We are committed to recruiting diverse candidates who will promote an inclusive, respectful, safe, and welcoming environment.
At Buffkin / Baker, we are keen on understanding our client’s needs and objectives, and helping to recruit the best leadership talent, not just the best talent readily available. Through our proven process and 100+ years of experience, our partner-led team consistently delivers a diverse slate of innovative leaders to our clients.
Stay updated by visiting our Higher Education page on LinkedIn.
Our Team in Higher Education
Martin Baker
Managing Partner
Martin Baker
Managing Partner
Martin has been in the executive search profession for 25 years and is based in our Winston-Salem, NC office. Martin is a Managing Partner of Buffkin / Baker and is the Head of the Higher Education Practice.
He previously worked in the Atlanta office of Korn Ferry, where he developed search strategy and executed searches for numerous senior level appointments. He began his career working in London, England as a Research Associate with Saxton Bampfylde, an executive search and management assessment firm.
Martin has conducted searches for the positions of Chancellor/President, Provost, CFO, CIO, Vice President, Dean, Director, and Professor, having worked on over 375 searches throughout his career. Martin has recently represented a number of AAU institutions, land-grant universities, faith-based institutions, liberal arts colleges, and regional universities, where he has led searches spanning most functions and academic disciplines.
Martin currently serves on the Parents’ Council at Wake Forest University and on the Board of Directors of Old Town Club. He previously served on the Board of Directors of SciWorks (The Science Center and Environmental Park of Forsyth County in Winston-Salem), both the Alumni Council and the regional selection committee for the Presidential Scholarship at Wake Forest, and the Development Committee for the Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem. He recently served on the Athletics Advisory Council at Wake Forest.
Martin earned his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University.
- Email:martin@buffkinbaker.com
Managing Partner
Ken Carrick
Partner
Ken Carrick
Partner
Ken has managed numerous search engagements throughout his more than 38 years as a search consultant while cultivating a diverse roster of clients in the education, retail, nonprofit, manufacturing, healthcare, and government sectors. Ken was a student-athlete and graduated summa cum laude with a BA degree in accounting and business administration from Catawba College and earned an MBA from Wake Forest University.
Ken began his career as an accountant with Duke Energy and later worked for a national insurance company before entering the executive search profession. Prior to joining Buffkin / Baker, he served as president of a national retained search firm with dual headquarters in New York and Charlotte.
Ken currently serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and Museum where he holds the position of Treasurer and is a member of the Executive Committee. He recently completed a seven-year term as a director on the Mecklenburg County ABC Board where he also served as a member of the North Carolina Association of ABC Boards’ legislative committee. He previously served two terms as a member of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC)’s Council of the Americas board. Ken has been the President of the Catawba College Alumni Board, and on the boards of the Greenwood Genetic Center Foundation, Greater Carolina’s Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Covenant Day School. He has also been involved with numerous volunteer service groups and youth sports associations in the Charlotte area. He and his wife have three grown children.
- Email:ken@buffkinbaker.com
Partner
Ann Yates
Partner
Ann Yates
Partner
Ann Yates serves as a Partner in the Higher Education Practice. With a career spanning over two decades, she brings a commitment to quality client service and engagement, and an understanding of higher education and leadership.
Ann’s executive search career includes prior experience at two national executive search firms, most recently at ZRG Partners and before that at Witt/Kieffer where she served as a Senior Partner. She is well-versed in every area of academic leadership, enabling her to serve her clients broadly and across multiple functional areas. She has completed more than 300 executive-level searches throughout her career, including engagements for Presidents, Provosts, Deans, and Vice Presidents at leading public and private colleges and universities.
As a strategic partner, clients repeatedly rely on her expert counsel and aptitude for identifying talented, diverse, and dedicated leaders in mission-driven organizations. In particular, she brings a strong reputation for advancing women and candidates with diverse backgrounds.
Ann is a recognized thought leader, having contributed articles to the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Education. Additionally, she has been an invited presenter at ACE Women’s Network and AACSB’s ICAM conference. She received her master’s degree in industrial psychology from the University of New Haven and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bethany College.
Ann resides in Virginia with her husband and two sons.
- Email:ann@buffkinbaker.com
Partner
Pelema Ellis, Ph.D.
Associate Partner
Pelema Ellis, Ph.D.
Associate Partner
Pelema Ellis is an Associate Partner in the Higher Education Practice and splits time between our Los Angeles and Boston offices. Dr. Ellis brings 25 years of experience as an executive and strategic thought partner in higher education.
Dr. Ellis has served as a senior executive or staff member in various institutional settings: private and public research, public regional, liberal arts, community college, and faith-based. Dr. Ellis draws on this broad set of experiences to provide best-in-class executive search support that is personalized and grounded in care for your campus community.
Dr. Ellis holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in higher education and bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology from San Jose State University. Dr. Ellis also attended Cabrillo Community College and earned a GED at age 23.
- Email:pelema@buffkinbaker.com
Associate Partner
Chelsie Whitelock
Associate Partner/Practice Operations
Chelsie Whitelock
Associate Partner/Practice Operations
Chelsie Whitelock serves as an Associate Partner where she is a key member of the Higher Education Practice. Chelsie joined the firm from Vanderbilt University where she had several roles, including overseeing the Chancellor’s Faculty Fellows Program, managing the administrative staff of the Faculty Senate Office, and leading the recruitment of staff within Academic Affairs.
Prior to Vanderbilt, Chelsie was the Faculty Recruitment Manager in the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. In this role, she was responsible for the recruitment process for all faculty hires within the Haas School of Business, overseeing the full life-cycle recruitment process and onboarding of new faculty members.
Chelsie graduated from Robert Morris University with a degree in Business Administration and Management. She relocated to Nashville in the summer of 2013 with her husband, Andrew, and their son, Finnegan.
- Email:chelsie@buffkinbaker.com
Associate Partner/Practice Operations
Janny DeLoache, CDR
Associate Partner, Higher Education
Janny DeLoache, CDR
Associate Partner, Higher Education
Janny DeLoache serves as an Associate Partner in the Higher Education Practice. For over 20 years, she has provided research, sourcing, and candidate development on numerous search engagements, with a particular focus in the areas of education, nonprofit, and governmental entities as well as sales and marketing. She also is active in client relations, consultations, and assisting clients with neutral site interviews. Additionally, she is an AIRS Certified Diversity and Inclusion Recruiter (CDR). Utilizing the AIRS search techniques enables our recruiters to locate diverse candidate pools using a variety of resources, including the internet.Janny attended Converse College, where she earned a BFA degree with honors and an MEd degree. Early in her career, she served as an Admissions Counselor and as Assistant Dean of Students at Converse, and later as Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology. She also worked in account services as Vice President for Marketing Outreach, Inc. in Atlanta, and as a Southeast Regional Manager for New York-based, US Concepts, Inc. Both firms specialized in the execution of marketing campaigns, sales/retail promotions, and special events for Fortune 500 firms..
Janny is a member of the Mint Museum Auxiliary, the Junior League, as well as an ENCORE! Life Member at the Children’s Theater of Charlotte. She has served on the Converse Alumnae Board and the Wofford College’s Parent Advisory Council. A recipient of the Converse 100 Award, Janny and her husband have two grown children.
- Email:janny@buffkinbaker.com
Associate Partner
Dinah DeWitt
Associate
Dinah DeWitt
Associate
Dinah DeWitt joined Buffkin/Baker in 2023 and serves as an Associate with the Higher Education Practice. She has a genuine love for people and desire to help them navigate their professional journeys.
Her passion for higher education and recruiting was formed during her time at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, where she served as a member of the Admissions and Career Management Center teams, as well as a Campus Recruiter for the Master of Accountancy program. After eight years at Vanderbilt, she continued to enhance her recruiting skillset at Ernst & Young as the Talent Management Recruiter for accounting profiles in the Southeast region within Campus Recruiting.
A Nashville native, Dinah now lives in the surrounding Washington, D.C. area with her husband and their young son, Henry. In her free time, she enjoys being with her family, architectural photography, traveling, baking new recipes, and exploring D.C. She earned her degree in Spanish from Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee.
- Email:dinah@buffkinbaker.com
Associate
Dani Reiser
Research Manager
Dani Reiser
Research Manager
Danielle Reiser joined Buffkin / Baker in early 2022 as the Research Manager in the Higher Education Practice. She brings 10+ years of operational management experience in supporting the development, diligence, and execution of search activities in support of Partner teams and the firm. Previously, Dani worked as a marketing coordinator after earning her degree in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing at Southern New Hampshire University. Dani and her husband recently relocated from Central Illinois to Nashville, where they enjoy the great outdoors, live music, and trying new cuisines.
- Email:dani@buffkinbaker.com
Research Manager
Kim Trama
Senior Executive Search Assistant
Kim Trama
Senior Executive Search Assistant
Kim Trama joined Buffkin/Baker as an Administrative Assistant in September of 2017. Before relocating to Nashville in 1997, Kim and her family lived in New York where she enjoyed a professional music career. She received a degree in paralegal studies and began her law experience in legal administrative management and family law in 2010.
Kim enjoys cooking, hiking, and traveling, and has two grown children, Nick, and Alyssa. She also enjoys spending time with her extended family and pets. Kim is currently the drummer in a local rock band.
- Email:kim@buffkinbaker.com
Senior Project Coordinator
Brianna Grutadaurio
Project Coordinator
Brianna Grutadaurio
Project Coordinator
Brianna Grutadaurio serves as the Project Coordinator, supporting the Higher Education team. Brianna brings over 3 years of Executive and Administrative Assistant experience to the role.
She was born and raised in Georgia, and graduated from the University of North Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. In her free time, Brianna enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.
- Email:brianna@buffkinbaker.com
Project Coordinator
LeadersFirst Career Portal
As a retained, specialty boutique search firm leader, each partner in the firm has expertise in their respective fields and each has over a decade of retained search experience. Combined, our partners have over 200 years combined executive search experience and 210 years of operating experience by our partners. Our job as search professionals is to recruit leaders in Healthcare, Higher Education, Private Equity, Digital Transformation, Technology, Media & Telecom, Entertainment, and Non-Profit.
Our Higher Education Clients
Talk to Our Team
Contact our partner-led team of executive search professionals. We are a boutique recruitment firm connecting leading organizations with trusted professional candidates who have the experience to lead your vision.
Senior Executive Search Assistant