Five finalists have been named to become the next president of the University of Idaho.
School officials say the list was narrowed down from 50 applicants seeking to replace outgoing President Chuck Staben, who leaves the helm in Moscow at the end of this school year.
The finalists selected by the UofI President Search Screening Committee include Christopher Callahan, the Founding Dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, who also serves as University Vice-Provost and as Chief Executive Officer of Arizona Public Broadcasting System; Diane Chase, the Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Scott Green, a UofI alumnus currently serving as the Global Chief Operating and Financial Officer of international law firm Hogan Lovells; Elizabeth Spiller, Dean of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Davis; and Paul Tikalsky, Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University.
Arrangements are underway for the finalists to visit the Idaho campus in Moscow and the U of I Boise Center next week. Open forums are planned for students, faculty, staff, and the public to meet and hear from the finalists.
While Staben has about four months left at the helm of the land grant institution, a motion approved by the Idaho State Board of Education could keep him around longer. Earlier this month, the board approved a semester-long academic transitional leave for the outgoing president, which would allow him to prepare for a teaching assignment that begins in January. (Idaho State Board of Education)
