For Release February 3
Board of Regents Announces 5 Finalists for USD President
PIERRE-Today David Gienapp, chair of the Board of Regents presidential search committee, announced that they have invited five finalists to visit campus for the presidency of the University of South Dakota, the presidency was vacated by Betty Turner Asher who resigned on June 30, 1996. Since August, Paul Olscamp, President Emeritus at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, has served as interim president and will remain until the new president reports on July 1.
The five finalists are:
Jim Abbott: Mr. Abbott has been a life-long resident of South Dakota, attending grades K-11 in Yankton Public Schools, and graduated from High School in Pontiac, Michigan. He received his B.A. in Political Science and J.D. from the University of South Dakota. He also attended the Graduate School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and CEO of Zylstra Communications Corporation in Yankton, South Dakota. He owns and operates Cable TV Systems in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa, and travel agencies in six South Dakota cities and numerous other businesses in the state and region. Abbott is a former college, high school and junior high teacher, as well as a former legislator. He has been highly involved in public service, governmental and community activities.
R. Barbara Gitenstein: Dr. Gitenstein currently serves as the Provost and Professor of English at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She received a bachelor's degree from Duke University, a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before accepting the position of Provost at Drake, Gitenstein served as the Associate Provost at SUNY-Oswego, and later Acting Assistant Provost for Academic Programs and Research at SUNY Central.
John Hilpert: Dr. Hilpert has served as the Vice President for University Relations at the University of South Dakota since 1990, and holds a graduate faculty appointment as an Associate Professor of Educational Administration. He was appointed Acting President of USD by the South Dakota Board of Regents in July/August, 1996. Prior to moving to Vermillion, Dr. Hilpert was the Vice President for College Advancement at Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania, and served as Director of Admissions, then Executive Assistant to the President at Suomi College in Hancock, Michigan. He received a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, a M.Div. from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., and a B.A. from Concordia Senior College in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Robert Kindrick: An English scholar, Dr. Kindrick received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin, M.A. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and a B.A. from Park College. Kindrick serves as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Montana-Missoula, as Dean of Graduate Studies at the four campuses within the University of Montana, and is a Professor of English. He previously served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Eastern Illinois University. Dr. Kindrick has teaching and administrative experience in Universities in five states.
G. Warren Smith: Currently an Honors Professor of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Smith served as President and Professor of Chemistry at Southeastern Louisiana University from 1986 - 1995. Dr. Smith received a BA degree from Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, and a Ph.D from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Formerly he served as the Dean of the School of Sciences and Technologies at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks prior to assuming administrative roles.
The finalists will be visiting USD between February 8-10 for scheduled meetings with different campus constituents.
NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS: The candidates will not be available for public comment or interviews until after a finalist is named to fill the post of president at USD. The finalists' vitas will be available in the I.D. Weeks Library at USD.