Sherman College has announced Jack M. Bourla DC, ACP as the 6th President of Sherman College of Chiropractic with the decision coming after a presidential search lasting several months and involving the consideration of dozens of potential candidates.
Sherman College’s Board of Trustees and its fifth president, Edwin Cordero, D.C., had announced in February 2022 that Cordero would complete his 10-year presidency this December and that the college would begin the search for its next leader. The college then selected Diversified Search Group and established a search committee including board members as well as representatives from the college’s executive leadership, Faculty Senate, Staff Council, alumni association, student body and leadership-level donors.
The search committee has worked with DivSearch over the past several months to identify top candidates from applications and nominations, and sought a president who would embrace the distinctive mission and core values of the college, who embodied a courageous spirit, demonstrated the depth and breadth of knowledge associated with the chiropractic community, and has the capacity both to consult with and lead such a community with conviction, according to the school's website.
Bourla, who is currently the Chairman of the Board of the International Federation of Chiropractors and Organizations (IFCO) and is a past President of the organization, has been in private practice in Redwood City California since 1998.
Bourla previously served as the Dean of Clinics at LIFE Chiropractic College West and with a background in Cellular and Molecular Biology worked in the field of biotechnology and molecular medicine for many years prior to entering Palmer Chiropractic of College West where he graduated with Honors and was the class Valedictorian.
Bourla is a graduate of the Academy of Chiropractic Philosophers receiving that distinction from Sherman College of Chiropractic in 2017. He served the California Chiropractic Association (CCA) in several capacities over the years and was awarded the CCA's Presidential Award.
A sought after speaker within the chiropractic profession internationally, Bourla is a member of the Delta Sigma Chi Fraternity, has been a Sherman College Regent since 2012 and is a Member of the President's Circle of the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation.
He has presented numerous times at Sherman's International Research & Philosophy Conference (IRAPS) and was awarded the Service to the Profession Award from Sherman College at its 2022 Lyceum.
Dr. Bourla will take over the helm of Sherman college following in the footsteps of Edwin Cordero DC who has served as the college’s president since January 1, 2013, and leaves a rich legacy. Cordero will continue to oversee the college through the end of the year.
Cordero positioned Sherman College as a preeminent chiropractic institution in the U.S. and the world – one that focuses on the philosophy, science and art of chiropractic. He quickly more than doubled enrollment within the first three years of his tenure. He also sparked a growth in diversity, working to increase recruiting efforts in Puerto Rico and other areas across the nation and internationally.
In addition to increasing enrollment, Dr. Cordero has led a period of tremendous campus growth, successfully completing a $22 million campus master plan investment that featured the construction of the Gelardi Student Center (GSC), now a campus centerpiece.
Bourla takes over Sherman College during a time of tremendous change within higher education and within the chiropractic profession itself. In addition to the rapid changes in higher education, he will need to navigate the profession's widespread move away from the foundational principles and tenets of chiropractic and the challenges associated with an increasing number of chiropractic programs emerging around the world which are all seeking to attract students interested in a chiropractic education but unaware of the vast differences in the philosophical underpinnings of those schools.
Sherman's steadfast focus on the vertebral subluxation and the adjustment, along with its vitalistic and salutogenic underpinnings, positions the institution as unique within the chiropractic educational marketplace.
As Sherman College approaches its 50th anniversary in 2023, the Board of Trustees stated in a press release that it was looking for a leader to take the institution through its next level of growth.
CLICK HERE for press release from Sherman
https://www.sherman.edu/presidential-news
