University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly recently announced the finalists for the chancellor’s position at UW-River Falls.
The position has been vacant since the unexpected death of Chancellor Ann Lydecker last year. Lydecker was killed in a car accident March 24, 2004.
UW System spokesperson Doug Bradley said such a delicate situation could not be dealt with immediately.
“[With] something like that, you’ve got to let the campus and community mourn — you can’t even talk about the successor,” Bradley said.
Since Lydecker’s death, Interim President Virgil Nylander has headed the university.
Reilly announced the five possible successors to Lydecker’s position Friday. The candidates include Provost Donald Betz of the University of Central Oklahoma-Edmond, former president and current professor Kendall Blanchard of Fort Lewis College-Durango in Colorado, Provost Sharon Hoffman of Clayton State College and University-Morrow in Georgia, Interim President Robert Kennedy of the University of Maine-Orono and Visiting Senior Scientist Judith Ramaley of the National Academy of Sciences.
The five candidates were recommended by a 17-member River Falls committee headed by UW-River Falls professor Terry Brown.
According to Bradley, the group will be an excellent source to choose River Falls’ 12th chancellor.
“It doesn’t mean we always have great offers or opportunities, but I think this is one of the deeper pools,” Bradley said “We’re in good shape on this one. These are five high-caliber finalists.”
UW-River Falls has already posted entire biographies of each candidate so students and faculty can examine their qualifications. The group is constructed of a wide range of individuals from around the nation.
Betz has international experience from his work for the United Nations’ Question of Palestine and as Assistant Foreign Editor of the Daily Star in Beirut, Lebanon.
Alternately, Blanchard helped Fort Lewis acquire attention by making it one of the Top 10 “most wired” campuses in the country.
Additionally, Hoffman has experience developing and implementing more than 26 undergraduate and graduate majors during her career.
Kennedy, who grew up relatively close to the campus, has received several awards for his emphasis to diversity in higher education.
Ramaley has served in a variety of different positions at several major institutions, including the University of Kansas, the University of Albany and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The Board of Regents’ Special Committee for the UW-River Falls Chancellor Search will meet with the five candidates in Madison Feb. 7.
The five candidates will also visit the River Falls campus between Jan. 23 and Feb. 4 to meet with community members, faculty, administrators, staff and students.
The regents will make their final decision after the Special Committee and President Reilly have reached a recommendation.
