President of IYRS School of Technology & Trades
Search for the PRESIDENT
IYRS SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY & TRADES
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
IYRS School of Technology & Trades (IYRS) one of the premier marine trades and modern manufacturing schools in the United States, seeks its next President.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen and grow a unique technology and trade school that produces exceptional student outcomes. IYRS is valued by students for its hands-on, team-based learning model and sought out by employers for its highly skilled graduates. Named one of the Best Maker Schools in the world by Newsweek, IYRS possesses impressive facilities on the Newport harbor
front, expert faculty, and respect from industry and the local community. IYRS alumni have started successful businesses and embarked on careers ranging from wooden boat building to wind energy to aerospace to consumer goods and have built some of the world’s fastest and most beautiful yachts.
IYRS was founded in 1993 by Elizabeth Meyer as the International Yacht Restoration School to teach 15 students the fine craftsmanship necessary to restore historically significant wooden sailboats. The school has since grown into a leading non-profit experiential learning institution and currently offers four full-time, accredited certificate programs: Boatbuilding & Restoration, Marine Systems, Composites
Technology, and Digital Modeling & Fabrication. Each year IYRS enrolls 90 to 100 students that represent a diverse mix of high school and college graduates, veterans, career changers, and up-skillers.
IYRS is supported by a staff and faculty of 25 and a 33-member board of trustees and sits on a three-acre waterfront campus featuring four administrative and academic buildings and a working marina. Reporting to the President is a five-member leadership team that includes the Chief Financial Officer and Director of Operations; the Directors of Educational Programs, Admissions, and Development and
Marketing; and the Facilities and Marina Manager. IYRS’s FY2022 operating budget is $4.3 million.
IYRS’s next President will have the opportunity to mold the right mix of academic programs, increase enrollment, diversify its financial resources, continue to develop the board, maintain philanthropic support, and create a clear and powerful communications strategy. The President will benefit from IYRS’s engaged board and its location in a town and in a state that values and supports technology and
trade education. The next President should bring leadership, financial stewardship, marketing, and management experience; a passion for experiential education and an entrepreneurial spirit; expertise in partnering with diverse constituencies; and a commitment to the mission of IYRS to prepare students to enter the global maker and manufacturing workforce.
IYRS has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this search. All inquiries, nominations, and applications (including resumes/CVs and one- to three-page letters of interest responding to the opportunities and challenges outlined in the full position profile) should be directed in strict confidence to the search team here. Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted. To be
assured full consideration, please submit materials by Friday, March 17, 2023.
Rebecca Swartz and Tatiana Oberkoetter
IYRS PRESIDENT POSITION PROFILE
IYRS School of Technology & Trades is an Equal Opportunity Employer.