UW Search Fails To Find New President Regents Ready To Start Over After Coming Up Empty

A search committee has failed to find a new president for the University of Washington, and the board of regents concedes an interim president will take over July 1.

“We had a year to get (a president) and we didn’t get one,” said Paul Skinner, a regent and chairman of the 18-member committee. He said he would not set a new date for when a successor to William Gerberding might be found.

There were three finalists for the job Gerberding is retiring from on June 30.

“One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist” to know that an interim president will have to be named, Skinner said.

Skinner said the regents were considering three finalists last month, following a secretive selection process, but had made offers to none.

Talks proceeded the furthest with Graham Spanier, chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, who on Thursday was named president of Pennsylvania State University. The other two finalists, both university presidents, are no longer being considered.

“For a number of personal and professional reasons, none of the candidates materialized,” Skinner said.

He said the regents have terminated a contract with Academic Search Consultation Service of Washington, D.C., which was paid $32,000 to help find a new president, and are seeking a new firm to give the regents a “fresh approach” and a larger candidate pool.

The regents have not discussed who would replace Gerberding on an interim basis or whether Gerberding would be asked to stay until his replacement is hired, Skinner said.

A leading candidate to serve as acting president would appear to be Executive Vice President Tallman Trask. No one has discussed that scenario with him, Trask said, adding that “I haven’t thought about that (possibility).”

With Gerberding due to leave in just 3 1/2 months, the regents should develop a contingency plan, Regent Jon Runstad said.

“It behooves us to do it sooner rather than later … so the campus community could have a better expectation” as to how the transition will be carried out, he said.

The presidential search that began 10 months ago produced more than 150 names, with 10 to 15 candidates interviewed in December and January. At one point, Skinner said the new president would be announced the week of Feb. 26.

Regent Dan Evans said highranking university representatives should contact their counterparts at other top universities.

“They know who the stars are out there,” he said. “It would seem like we could develop a finalist list faster.”

Skinner later said that Evans’ suggestion was not new.

“That’s the way we got the three (finalists),” he said.Bruce Alton, senior principal with the firm, could not be reached for comment last night.