Deaton among top four candidates for provost
Published Sept. 11, 1998
The MU provost search committee soon will be faced with a multiple choice test:
A. A physics professor.
B. An ecology professor.
C. A law professor.
D. The interim provost of MU.
These are the current jobs of the four candidates competing for the provost position.
The candidates are Brady Deaton, MU interim provost" Dale Whitman, MU endowed professor of law" Marvin Marshak, professor of physics at the University of Minnesota" and Rollin Richmond, professor of ecology, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of New York-Stony Brook.
Deaton became interim provost after Edward Sheridan resigned in January.
Sheridan left MU to assume the dual positions of University of Houston senior vice president and Texas University system vice chancellor.
An MU search committee will interview the four applicants beginning Sept. 14.
Each candidate will spend two days at MU during the interview process. This will give them the opportunity to interact with faculty, staff and students.
"It is important the search committee receive a wide range of comments ... before making a final report to the chancellor," stated James Westbrook, provost search committee chair, in a press release Thursday.
Chancellor Richard Wallace will make the final decision in hiring the new provost.
Of the four applicants, two have strong connections to MU — Deaton and Whitman.
Deaton said his knowledge of MU will not necessarily give him an advantage in the interview.
"I believe the campus is looking for the finest leadership in the world," he said. "I'm flattered to be among that group."
Despite being interim provost for the past nine months — in addition to a 10-month stint before Sheridan — Deaton said he did not set out for the provost position.
"I took over, and I knew [becoming provost] was a possibility," he said. "I wanted to get a sense of where the campus was going."
The other applicants could not be reached for comment.
When a provost is selected, he will have to hire an associate provost of academic affairs. Elaine Charlson, who previously held the position, resigned in July to take a job at the University of Houston.
A new assistant provost also must be selected.