By BILL POOVEY
Associated Press Writer
KNOXVILLE – A University of Tennessee search panel unanimously voted Wednesday to nominate two finalists for system president: UT Institute of Agriculture Chancellor Joe DiPietro and West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Brian Noland.
The board of trustees, with 24 voting members, is scheduled to hire a president from the two nominees Friday.
The panel’s eight voting members made the nominations after interviewing five candidates on subjects that ranged from fundraising finances to their visions for the system’s future.
Noland, 43, is a former Tennessee Higher Education Commission associate director and said he knows how to raise money.
“I enjoy fundraising,” Noland said. “I enjoy getting out and meeting with people.”
DiPietro, 59, oversees UT Extension, AgResearch, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine. He told panel members that he manages as a team leader and doesn’t believe UT-Knoxville needs to grow.
“Getting bigger and bigger doesn’t always get us where we need to go,” DiPietro said.
The finalists left before the search committee vote was taken.
The search committee chairman, trustee vice chairman Jim Murphy, said he notified the two nominees by leaving voice mails.
“I think it’s going to be a tough decision,” Murphy said.
DiPietro earned his bachelor’s, doctor of veterinary medicine and master’s degrees at the University of Illinois, Urbana. He previously worked as dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida from 1997 to 2006 and as a professor of veterinary clinical medicine and in administrative posts at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Noland, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at West Virginia University and earned a doctorate in political science at UT Knoxville. He previously worked as associate executive director at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission from 1998 to 2006 and helped develop the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship program. He previously worked as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt, Nashville State Community College and Tennessee State University.
Battelle Memorial Institute consultant Robert McGrath, state Rep. Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley and Mercy Health Partners Vice President Jerry Askew did not receive enough votes to be nominated.
The search started in February and a consulting firm received 71 applications.
Gov. Phil Bredesen, the trustee chairman, did not attend Wednesday’s meeting and a statement from his office said he “will not be playing a role in the final decision, as he doesn’t want to influence the process given his relationships with the finalists.”
UT system has not had a permanent president since last year, when John Petersen abruptly resigned. UT Knoxville Anthropology Professor Jan Simek has worked as interim president.
Trustees in June approved a compensation package that will allow the president a maximum annual base salary of $450,000, a housing allowance of $20,000 and an expense allowance up to $16,000.
Petersen had a base salary of $420,000.
The UT system includes campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Martin; the Health Science Center in Memphis, state Institutes of Agriculture and Public Service and the Space Institute in Tullahoma.
The university’s most recent presidents have made unexpected exits. Petersen was the latest to depart, resigning in February 2009 after disagreements with board members over donors and other issues.
Bredesen previously told the board that the next president will have to deal with a challenging financial landscape that will rely more on private money and will have a goal of making UT-Knoxville a Top 25 school. It recently ranked 52nd among 600 U.S. universities.