Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Risa Palm has been selected as a finalist for the position of president at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va.
The UMW Board of Visitors announced Saturday in a news release on the UMW Web site that Palm is among three finalists for the position.
Palm said the announcement is one stage of the hiring process and does not mean that she is going to leave LSU.
Palm said she did not apply for the position but was asked by UMW if she was interested. She said this is a practice that is common for high-level administrative positions.
Palm said she decided to look into UMW because it was a public, liberal arts university.
“I’m very committed to all the things that we’re doing at LSU – I really love this place,” she said. “I enjoy working with the faculty, new chancellor and students. It’s not in any way an unhappiness with LSU – not at all.”
Palm will speak Monday before UMW students and board members, according the release.
Palm was hired by former Chancellor Mark Emmert in April 2003 after serving as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The other two candidates for the University of Mary Washington position are William Frawley, dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University and Karen Gould, dean of the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.
“All three candidates have impeccable academic credentials in addition to strong administrative experiences with undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. They also have a proven record of successful fund raising,” UMW Board of Visitors Rector Mona Albertine said in the news release.
The board expects to announce the new president in late February, and the selected candidate will begin work in July.
 
 
 
Contact Ginger Gibson at [email protected]