Four finalists for SPEA dean position visit campuses
Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs is well on its way to naming the fourth dean in its 36-year history. Finalists for the position have visited the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses, given talks to the SPEA community and met with faculty, staff and students.
The next step is for the university search committee that identified the finalists to meet again and make further recommendations for Charles Bantz, chancellor of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Bantz will make the selection subject to approval by the IU Board of Trustees.
The finalists are:
- John Applegate, the Walter W. Foskett Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law--Bloomington.
- John Graham, dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, Calif.
- Barbara S. Romzek, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas.
- Greg Lindsey, associate dean of SPEA and the Duey-Murphy Professor of Rural Land Policy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
"We are delighted to be able to attract such an interesting and talented group of people to consider this opportunity at SPEA," Lauren Robel, dean of the IU School of Law--Bloomington and chair of the SPEA search committee, said when the finalists were announced in January.
Bantz appointed the 15-member search committee in August 2007 to identify and interview candidates for the position. The dean of SPEA reports to the chancellor of IUPUI.
The previous dean, Astrid E. Merget, left last summer to become provost and executive vice president of Louisiana State University. Kurt Zorn, a SPEA professor and former associate dean at IU Bloomington, serves as interim dean.
Charles F. Bonser, now dean emeritus of SPEA, led the school from its creation in 1972 to 1988. Professor A. James Barnes was dean from 1988 to 2000.
The four finalists represent a range of academic and professional backgrounds and experiences in public affairs and environmental policy.
Applegate, who joined the IU law faculty in 1998, is nationally recognized for his work in environmental risk assessment and policy analysis and is a frequent speaker at national conferences. He is a Presidential Fellow at the IU president's office. More information is available at http://law.indiana.edu/directory/jsapple.asp.
Graham has been dean since March 2006 of PRGS, a graduate school established in 1970 by the RAND Corp. think tank. A former professor in the Harvard School of Public Health, he was an administrator in the White House Office of Management and Budget from 2001-06. More information is available at http://www.prgs.edu/dean.html.
Lindsey joined the SPEA faculty in 1991 and has been associate dean for Indianapolis programs since January 2004. Known for his research on greenways and urban trails, he has been a scholar with the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment. More information is available at http://www.spea.iupui.edu/faculty/greglindsey/.
Romzek served as interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2005-06 at the University of Kansas, where she is professor of public policy. She became associate dean for social sciences in 2000. More information is available at http://www.clas.ku.edu/faculty/deansoffice/barbara.shtml.
The School of Public and Environmental Affairs is committed to teaching, research and service in areas such as public and nonprofit management, public policy, environmental science, criminal justice, arts administration and health administration. The school maintains continuing relationships with a large number of public agencies at all levels of government; public and private hospitals and health organizations; and nonprofit organizations and corporations in the private sector.
SPEA has earned national distinction for innovative educational programs that combine administrative, social, economic, financial and environmental disciplines. Information about the school is available at http://www.spea.indiana.edu and http://www.spea.iupui.edu.
