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REGENTS MEET ON UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

 
(URBANDALE, Iowa) ­ The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, voted Friday to reject the candidates presented to the Board for the presidency of the University of Iowa.
 
³The Search Committee worked long and hard and did a wonderful job, but in the end the Regents felt that while these candidates were wonderfully accomplished people, the Regents needed candidates who had more experience as leaders who oversaw complex health-sciences operations as well as the myriad of other academic and non-academic operations of a large university,² Michael Gartner, president of the Board, said.
 
He said he and his colleagues were particularly grateful to Teresa Wahlert, the head of the search committee and the president pro tem of the Board of Regents.  ³She has devoted the past eight months of her life to this process, deftly and diligently leading the committee,² he said.  ³All of us are in her debt.²
 
The Search Committee led by Wahlert comprised 18 others representing students, faculty, alumni, staff and community representatives, as well as Regents.  All Regents on the committee ­ Ruth Harkin, Dr. Amir Arbisser, and Gartner, as well as Wahlert ­ concurred in the decision to seek candidates with broader experience.
 
The University of Iowa has ³many, many areas of greatness, and one clearly is the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and the Board wants to ensure that we have strong leadership to build on that greatness,² he added.
 
The Board set no timetable or process for finding new candidates.
 
Gary Fethke, the interim president of the University, has agreed to remain in that job until a new president is hired and installed.