Clemson hires new president from SEC school after first choice changed his mind
Clemson has a new president ... again.
Three days after Michigan State’s Kevin Guskiewicz suddenly backed away from the university’s top job, the Tigers picked a new leader: Georgia’s Ben Ayers.
Ayers, most recently UGA’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, was formally announced Thursday as Clemson’s 16th president. The university board of trustees unanimously approved his hire in a virtual meeting.
Ayers’ first day as Clemson president will be Aug. 1. He’s signing a five-year contract through 2031 with a starting base salary of $1 million and various perks that should bring his annual compensation closer to $1.3 million.
Clemson board chair Kim Wilkerson described Ayers as a “distinguished” leader and said he was one of the university’s top candidates in its initial search process.
Ayers, according to Wilkerson, pulled out of Clemson’s search before the university made its final selection for president the first time around in May. He wanted to remain “fully committed” to his Georgia duties, she wrote.
“When circumstances changed, conversations resumed and the Board quickly affirmed what had become clear throughout the search: Dr. Ayers’ experience and vision made him the unanimous choice,” Wilkerson wrote in a message to campus.
Ayers: ‘Tremendous honor’ to lead Clemson
Before he was promoted to provost last summer, Ayers spent 11 years as the dean of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, where Wilkerson said he had “historic” success. He initially joined UGA as an assistant professor in 1996 and has spent 30 years working his way up the school’s academic ranks.
He also led UGA’s accounting school during his time in Athens, Georgia and worked in private-sector financial jobs before transitioning into academia.
Ayers earned his undergraduate degree and a master’s degree at the University of Alabama and a doctorate of accounting from the University of Texas.
He also won’t have to move very far, considering Clemson and Athens are only 79 miles and a roughly 90-minute drive apart. The schools are considered regional rivals and play each other semi-frequently in football and other sports.
Ayers will succeed Jim Clements, who was Clemson’s president from 2013-24.
He will also be just the third president at Clemson this century. Clements’ predecessor, Jim Barker, spent 15 years as president from 1999-2013.
Ayers, in a news release, said it was a “tremendous honor” to land the job.
“Clemson’s tradition of excellence, its commitment to students and its impact through teaching, research and service make it one of the nation’s most respected public universities,” he said.
Clemson board chair comments on Guskiewicz swerve
Ayers’ hire came three days after Guskiewicz — who was set to join Clemson in August — made national news by abruptly backing out of the job.
Guskiewicz had previously expressed concerns with effectively leading Michigan State amid board of trustees drama, calling the situation “unsustainable.”
But he received assurances the school would improve its environment, Guskiewicz said in an open letter to MSU released Monday. Various school and student groups also made an all-out push for Guskeiwicz to stay, and he got a pay raise.
His reversal was still a stunner. Less than two weeks earlier, Guskiewicz had been on Clemson’s campus, wearing an orange tie, participating in board meetings and meeting with student and faculty groups.
In a Tuesday interview with “The Chronicle of Higher Ed,” Guskiewicz said he decided to stay at MSU for “a combination of both personal and professional considerations.”
“There’s a lot of great things happening at Clemson University, and that very, very difficult decision that my wife and I made had nothing to do with anything that we were discouraged by at Clemson University,” Guskiewicz told the website.
Guskiewicz was not mentioned by name in Thursday’s meeting, but Wilkerson, Clemson’s board chair, appeared to make two references to the recent drama surrounding the university’s presidential search as Ayers was hired.
“One of the truest tests in life is knowing with total clarity where you belong,” Wilkerson said early in the meeting. “It reveals itself in its own time to each person in its own way, and when it does, that clarity deserves respect.”
“We have watched that kind of clarity play out over the past several days. It is exactly what a search process of this rigor should surface.”
Later, as she raved about Ayers’ character, Wilkerson added of Clemson: “Great universities deserve leaders who put the institution ahead of themselves.”
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Clemson hires new president from SEC school after first choice changed his mind."
