3 finalists for chancellor to visit campus next week

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

ELIZABETH D. CAPALDI

he three finalists for the chancellor's post will visit campus next week for meetings with administrators, deans, faculty, alumni and students.

     The finalists, who were announced last week, are Elizabeth D. Capaldi, provost at the State University of New York at Buffalo; William E. Hogan II, a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents and chairman and CEO of The Hogan Company of Minneapolis; and John V. Lombardi, director of the Center for Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Florida and the former president of the University of Florida.

     "We believe these candidates possess the array of skills needed to lead our flagship campus. These finalists have emerged from a rich and diverse pool of candidates," said Grace K. Fey, who chairs the Board of Trustees and the 21-member search committee.

     President William M. Bulger is expected to recommend a chancellor to the trustees by early May.

JOHN V. LOMBARDI

     The new chancellor will succeed David Scott, who served from 1993 to 2001, when he stepped down to return to teaching. Since his departure last June, former Deputy Chancellor Marcellette G. Williams has served as interim chancellor.

     A specialist in Latin American history, Lombardi served as president of the University of Florida from 1990 to 1999. He arrived at UF shortly before five Gainesville students were murdered and was credited with helping to restore calm to the frightened campus.

     Soon after his arrival, UF's athletic program was investigated by the NCAA and the football and basketball programs were put on probation for two years. Lombardi, however, strongly identified himself with UF athletics and championed the program's turnaround. In 1996, UF won the national championship in football.

     During his tenure at the Gainesville campus, the student population rose from 33,282 to 42,336 and the minority enrollment climbed from 14 percent to 22 percent. The quality of incoming students also improved with entering freshmen having an average grade point average of 3.9. The number of graduate degrees awarded by UF also went up by 60 percent during the Lombardi years.

WILLIAM E. HOGAN II

     Under Lombardi, the university's total budget also increased, from $800 million in 1989-90 to $1.5 billion in 1998-99. UF also saw its sponsored research funding more than double to nearly $300 million annually. The school's endowment increased by nearly 400 percent to more than $500 million. Lombardi also spearheaded a capital campaign that raised $750 million.

     Prior to his appointment at UF, Lombardi served for three years as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University. From 1967 to 1987, he taught in the history department at Indiana University, where he held several administrative posts, including director of Latin American studies, dean of international programs and dean of arts and sciences.

     He is the author of seven books focused primarily on Venezuela. He also has written on international business, computer literacy and software evaluation.

     After stepping down as president at UF, Lombardi became director of Center for Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

     Lombardi has a Ph.D. and M.A. from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from Pomona College.

     Elizabeth D. Capaldi served as provost under Lombardi from 1996 to 1999. Known as "Betty," she was named provost and professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2000. Capaldi still maintains ties with UF, serving as the research program director at the center led by Lombardi.

     Three years after she joined the University of Florida faculty in 1988, Capaldi was named special assistant to the president for the Florida Quality Evaluation Project, an internal planning and evaluation project that measured all aspects of the UF. She also was director of institutional research at UF from 1994 to 1996.

     Capaldi held a faculty appointment at Purdue University from 1969 to 1988 and served as head of its department of psychological sciences (1983-88) and assistant dean of the graduate school (1982-86).

     Capaldi's research is concerned with motivation and learning. She has contributed more than 60 chapters and articles, co-authored an introductory psychology textbook and edited two books on the psychology of eating. She was also associate editor of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review and a consulting editor for the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes.

     She is a past president of the American Psychological Society, of which she is a fellow. She is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

     A native of New York, she received her bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester and her Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

     William E. Hogan II's career has been a mix of academia and business. He is currently chairman and chief executive officer of The Hogan Company, an investment firm that creates and builds companies. He is also in his second six-year term on the University of Minnesota's board of regents, which he chaired in 1997-99.

     Hogan began his teaching career in 1973 on the faculty at the University of Kansas, where he was assistant dean of the school of engineering in 1973-74. He was associate dean from 1974-76 and associate executive vice chancellor of the Lawrence campus from 1978 to 1984, when he left for the private sector. He spent the next seven years employed by Honeywell, where he became vice president.

     After leaving Honeywell in 1991, Hogan became vice president of corporate operations and quality for Medtronic Inc., a medical technology company in Minneapolis. Two years later, Hogan founded The Hogan Company, also based in Minneapolis. Since 1998, he also has been chairman and CEO of Hogan, Bergerson, a management group with special business services to build and coach new and existing companies.

     Hogan received the Outstanding Black Engineer of America Award in 1989, and served as chairman of the Historically Black Research University Foundation Board in 1990. He has served on several civil and governmental committees, including White House task forces on education and the boards of various Fortune 500 companies.

     Hogan received his bachelor's degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Oklahoma State University and a master's degree from Southern Methodist University.

     Last year, Hogan was a finalist for the chancellor's job at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

     The 21-member search committee began its work last July, guided by Medical School Chancellor Aaron Lazare's Report of the Task Force on the Future of UMass-Amherst. The Boston consulting firm of Isaacson Miller reviewed the initial list of 100 nominees. The list of candidates was narrowed to 20 in January and eight were interviewed by the search committee in February. The field was later trimmed to five, but two finalists withdrew earlier this month, according to committee members.

Candidates to attend open meetings

     During their visits to campus, each of the three candidates for chancellor will participate in one-hour open meetings with the campus community. The forums will be from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. in the Massachusetts Room of the Mullins Center.

     The schedule is as follows: Elizabeth D. Capaldi, Tuesday, April 2; William E. Hogan II, Thursday, April 4; and John V. Lombardi, Friday, April 5.

     The vitaes of the finalists are available online (www.umassp.edu/csearch).