2 Finalists Named For Education Post Maine, Nebraska Higher Ed Executives Still In The Running

The state Board of Education has narrowed the field of candidates for its new executive director from seven to two and is on the verge of making a final decision.

Darrell Manning, the board’s acting executive director, said Monday that W. Michael Easton, president of the University of Maine, and Gregory G. Fitch, chancellor at Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte, Neb., still are in the running.

Manning said the board is planning an executive session conference call today to further consider the candidates.

Eliminated late last week were Idaho Deputy Attorney General John “Jack” McMahon; G. Thomas Greco, dean of student services at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Ore.; Stanley V. Scott, owner of MetaMarketing Consultants; Ryan C. Amacher, former president of the University of Texas at Arlington; and William H. Zimmerli, president and chief executive officer of Interim Administrative Solutions.

The position opened last summer when Rayburn Barton left to become commissioner of higher education in South Carolina.

Last month, Gov. Phil Batt said that Manning, retired adjutant general of the Idaho National Guard, would succeed state budget director Michael Brassey, who left the administration at the end of October to return to private law practice.