18 applicants selected to interview for University Regents

Eighteen candidates for four vacancies on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents were selected to be interviewed by the Regent Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) at its meeting on Dec. 10, 2010. The RCAC announced the vacancies in September and received a total of 46 applications.

Four of the twelve seats on Board of Regents are open for appointment every two years, each representing a six-year term.  In the current biennium, the four seats to be filled are one at-large, and one each in the second, third, and eighth congressional districts.

The RCAC is a 24-member advisory council established by the Minnesota State Legislature to recruit, screen, and recommend regent candidates for election by the Legislature.

The interviews in this round will be held Jan. 10-12, 2011, and are open to the public. The RCAC must recommend to a Joint Legislative Committee between two and four individuals for each open position on the Board.

The Joint Committee selects one candidate for each open position, and submits this slate of candidates for consideration by the full Legislature sitting in Joint Convention.  Under the Minnesota Constitution, the Joint Convention elects Regents to the Board.

Following are the names of the candidates to be interviewed by the RCAC for each open regent seat:

At-Large: Allen Anderson, Gordon Bailey, Steven Hunter, and Robert Kennedy

Second District: Laura Brod, Thomas Devine, Kelly Smith, Steven Sviggum, Robert Vogel, and Leon Westbrock

Third District: David Larson, Norman Rickerman, and Roby Thompson, Jr.

Eighth District: William Burns, George Goldfarb, Scott Lyons, David McMillian, and Robert Ostlund