BOWDOIN COLLEGE’S next president, Clayton Rose, speaks with reporters at the college’s 1806 Parker Cleaveland House on Monday.

Bowdoin College’s next president said he will be getting acquainted with members of Brunswick’s community in the months to come.

“High on my list is to meet the folks here in Brunswick and to understand the nature of that relationship,” said Clayton Rose, speaking recently with reporters at the college’s 1806 Parker Cleaveland House.

Asked to describe his philosophy as to how to foster relationships between a college and the local community, Rose said he preferred to deal with issues of conflict head-on.

“Be willing to get to the elephant that’s in the room … and talk it out,” said Rose. “My basic notion is that the institution of the college and the Brunswick community co-exist really well together, and have co-existed really well together from everything I’ve learned, and they can really be mutually beneficial. The college relies enormously on the community.”

The college announced Monday that Rose, 56, would become its next president on July 1. He will succeed current president Barry Mills, who announced in April 2014 that he would be stepping down after the conclusion of this academic year, having completed 15 years in the role.

Rose’s appointment comes after a unanimous recommendation by an 18-member search committee, following an eight-month search, and a unanimous vote of approval Monday morning by the college’s board of trustees. He will be the 15th president in the college’s 221-year history.

Rose said he wanted the job, in part, because the college was “grounded” in the “common good.”

“There is a remarkable community here,” Rose said. “Faculty, students, staff, alumni, the community of Brunswick — each is dedicated and devoted in their own ways to Bowdoin, and that creates something where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Rose is currently a faculty member at Harvard Business School where he has worked since 2007. He previously served at investment bank J.P. Morgan.

“Clayton has a wonderfully diverse background,” said Presidential Search Committee Chair Jes Staley, noting his background in finance and academics.

“One of the challenges of running a college like Bowdoin is you need to deal with so many different constituencies, from the alumni, to the trustees, to faculty, students, staff, to the community in Brunswick,” said Staley, noting that the committee felt Rose was comfortable in dealing with those from different backgrounds.

Rose challenged what he said was the notion that liberal arts education was at odds at vocational and career success, “which I reject completely.”

He added there was “some strain on anti-intellectualism that goes on in this country today — somehow the notion that challenging ideas and challenging one’s beliefs in the way one sees the world is somehow harmful. And I reject that as well.”

Challenging both those “wrongheaded” notions as Bowdoin’s president will be a “powerful and unique opportunity,” said Rose.

Rose is a native of San Rafael, Calif. His wife of 32 years, Julianne Rose, works in finance and has held elected office at the municipal level for many years, according to a press release issued by the college. She may launch a business this summer.

“My wife, Julianne, and I love Maine. We have a house down in York. We’re all-in, in Maine,” Rose said.

The two have visited Brunswick several times in the last few years, he said.

“It’s a wonderful place,” said Rose. “The people we’ve met on Maine Street when we’ve visited the shops, and grabbing lunch — every time we’ve been here has been an incredibly nice experience. We have only good memories and good feelings about Brunswick.”

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com