Search for Utah State University president down to four finalists

Search for Utah State University president down to four finalists

(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News, File)


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LOGAN — Four finalists for president of Utah State University were named Thursday.

The finalists are Dr. Noelle Cockett, executive president and provost at Utah State; Dr. Mark Rudin, vice president for research and economic development for Boise State University; Don Blackketter, chancellor of Montana Tech; and Dr. Keith Miller, former president of Virginia State University.

Each of the remaining candidates was recommended after the Utah State University Presidential Search Committee reviewed almost 40 applicants from across the country, university officials said.

The committee recommended the four finalists to the Utah State Board of Regents, which oversees the Utah System of Higher Education.

Teresa Theurer, who sits on the board and chaired the 25-member search committee, called the narrowing of the list "exhaustive." The process required several months and included interviews and public input.

Cockett began serving as executive president and provost at USU in 2013. She previously served as vice president for extension and agriculture for Utah State from 2006-13. She was also dean of the College of Agriculture from 2002-13 and director of the Utah Agriculture Experiment station from 2009-13. Cockett holds master's and doctorate degrees from Oregon State University in animal genetics.

Rudin has been vice president for research and economic development for Boise State since 2007. Previously, he was the senior associated vice president of research services at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 2005-06. He also served there as associate vice president for research service in the Office of Research and Graduate studies from 2003-05. Rudin earned two degrees from Purdue University — a master's in health physics and a doctorate in medicinal chemistry.

Blackketter, serving in his chancellor post since 2011, was dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Utah from 2008-11. He additionally served as chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the U. from 2005-08 and as assistant director of the National Institute for Advance Transportation between 1998 and 2005. Blackketter attended the University of Wyoming, where he earned his master's and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering.

Miller's tenure as president of Virginia State ran from 2010-14. From 2012-15, he was a faculty member at the New President Academy of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. He was also president of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania from 2004-10. He served as vice president and provost of the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh from 2001-04.

Stan Albrecht announced in February that he planned to retire as president of Utah State. He served in that post for 11 years.

The board of regents will interview each of the finalists in a closed session Wednesday. It's possible the board will convene publicly later that day to make the official selection, but it may also decide to do so on a future date.

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