Search Consultants

About Isaacson, Miller:

Isaacson, Miller is a national executive search firm devoted to recruiting exceptional leaders for mission-driven organizations. Our founders created the firm in 1982, a time when civic institutions rarely used executive search firms.

The firm has grown steadily, and today, Isaacson, Miller stands alone as a large, national, retained search firm dedicated to the full range of public and civic missions. We have active practices in higher education, science and social science research, human services, conservation and environmental defense, human and civil rights advocacy, K-12 education, academic and community healthcare, philanthropy, arts and culture, and community-based economic development, with sub-specialties in almost every functional area.

Many of our clients and past candidates become part of an extended network that shares our goal of strengthening the civic infrastructure. They see their own missions reflected in the work of the firm and choose to assist us, generously, in our quest for the finest talent in their fields.

The country’s civic community has come to recognize our persistent commitment to recruiting diverse talent. On average, in searches completed with us over the last decade, 40% of our clients have hired women and 25% people of color.

Isaacson, Miller is a mission-driven business committed to the recruitment of powerful civic leaders who raise our own and our clients’ competitive aspirations. We believe that civic organizations are essential to a strong civil society, a vigorous democracy, and to a free market economy. Civic institutions educate us all. They encourage the marketplace of ideas through research, teaching, and advocacy. They inspire innovation, and, through foundations and philanthropy, they arouse the charitable endeavors of private citizens. The civic sector serves as the guardian of our economic and societal strength. We have made its success our business.

About the Search Team:

Rebecca Swartz, Principal

Rebecca has been with Isaacson, Miller since 2004. She has spearheaded searches across the firm’s higher education practice and has recruited presidents, provosts, and deans for universities and colleges. Rebecca has also worked closely with boards of trustees on numerous CEO-level searches across many of the firm’s practice areas. Rebecca is an Oberlin alumna (1998) and double-majored in Politics and Women Studies. She is also a former Cole Scholar in the Oberlin Initiative in Electoral Politics program.

Anita Tien, Vice President

Anita joined Isaacson, Miller after a 25-year career in higher education at Wellesley College, Harvard University, and Boston College as a faculty member, student affairs dean, director of development, and Chief of Staff to the Provost at Boston College. At Isaacson, Miller, Anita's practice includes higher education leadership, foundations, arts and culture organizations, and technology. Anita was trained as a historian. She has a BA from Yale University, an AM from the University of Michigan, and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Benjamin Tobin, Managing Associate

Benjamin (Ben) joined Isaacson, Miller in 2011 after serving as Vice President and Lead Consultant at Brill Neumann, an executive search consulting firm focused on recruiting leaders to prominent institutions of higher education, academic medical centers, and research institutes. Over the past five years, Ben has helped to drive Isaacson, Miller’s practice in schools of arts and design, recruiting presidents, deans, and other academic and administrative leaders to institutions around the country. Previously, Ben was an advisor and administrator for summer study abroad programs at the Office of International Programs at Boston College. Ben is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and holds an MA in mental health counseling from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College.

Ashton Lange, Search Coordinator