Committee announces provost
finalists
By Laura Pelner
Campus
Editor
The four finalists for the provost position are
strong candidates and they would each be an asset to Purdue, said the
student body president.
"The way I'm looking at it right now, it's a no
lose situation for us. As long as one of them accepts, I think it's
going to be a win for Purdue," said Jim Vaca, Purdue Student Government
president and member of the provost search committee.
Purdue president Martin Jischke agreed. "They're
all very distinguished as academics and administrators," said Jischke.
"It's a very important position. I'm quite pleased with the quality
of people who have emerged. I think it bodes well for the future of
the position."
The provost position will not be a new one for
Purdue. Jischke said that Robert Ringel, executive vice president of
academic affairs, currently holds the position.
"Professor Ringel indicated his desire to step
down from the position many months ago," said Jischke. "As soon as I
took office, we launched a search to carry it out."
When the new person is named, his or her title
will be provost but the job will be similar to Ringel's.
"It's not a change in the responsibilities (of
the executive vice president of academic affairs)," said Jischke. "We'll
continue our efforts to improve Purdue as a University. I hope people
will see a change taking place in the spirit of the change that has
already taken place — that is, to make Purdue a better University."
The provost will be responsible for the academic
programs, educational programs, research programs and teaching programs,
said Jischke.
He added that the deans will also report to the
provost.
The provost search started in the beginning of
the fall semester.
Vaca said, "We opened it up to anybody and we got
a lot of good responses."
When it had the responses, the committee —
which has 22 faculty, staff and student members — analyzed the
information and then ranked the candidates.
The four finalists will visit Purdue during the
last week of January and the first week of February. They will be interviewed
as part of their visit.
Jischke said, "We're going to interview these people
in an expeditious way and identify the finalist. We intend to have the
person in place and at work by the first of July."
The provost finalists are Steven Leslie, the dean
of the College of Pharmacy and James T. Doluisio, chair and Bauerle
Centennial professor at the University of Texas at Austin; Gary Schuster,
the dean of the College of Sciences and a professor of chemistry and
biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Joan Lorden, the
associate provost for research and the dean of the graduate school at
the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Sally Frost Mason, the
dean of the College of Liberal Arts and a professor of molecular biosciences
at the University of Kansas.
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