President of Sunnylands decides to step down

The president of The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands announced Wednesday that after six years as the organization’s founding president, he will be leaving the historic retreat center that he helped transform into the “Camp David of the West”, officials said in a release.

Geoffrey Cowan, the former dean of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said he will step down in June of 2016 and return full time to USC where he is a university professor.

Officials said Cowan also holds the Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership and directs the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.

“It has been an incredible honor to serve as the inaugural president of The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, to work with a great group of colleagues and friends, and to help the trustees build an institution that is designed and destined to make ours a better world,” Cowan wrote in a letter to those involved with the trust.

“Based on the quality of individuals who have already been mentioned as possible candidates, I am confident that the board will have some excellent choices to consider in its search for a new president,” Cowan added. “From a personal standpoint, I am looking forward to a productive transition, starting with the board’s work in recruiting a leader who will continue to build this great enterprise.”

Sunnylands officials said Cowan became president of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in July 2010. Under his leadership, the former winter estate of ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg in Rancho Mirage became known as the “Camp David of the West” with President Barack Obama visiting on several occasions, including two historic meetings, one with President Xi Jinping of China in 2013 and the second with King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2014.

“On behalf of the Annenberg family and foundation, I want to underline how much we appreciate the wonderful job that Geoffrey Cowan has done as president of The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, and the way in which his leadership has helped to make it a world-renowned entity that fulfills the founders’ dreams – and more,” said Wallis Annenberg, president of The Annenberg Foundation and a member of the Sunnylands Board of Trustees.

The Annenbergs were known for the gracious hospitality they provided at Sunnylands to seven U.S. presidents, including President Ronald Reagan, who spent every New Year’s Eve at the estate, officials said in the release.

For more information, visit sunnylands.org.