Wichita State selects five finalists for next university president

The public is invited to attend a series of forums this month with the five finalists to become the next president of Wichita State University.

The finalists will visit WSU in the next two weeks. During the visit, candidates will tour the campus and interact with various WSU constituent groups. A portion of each visit will be open to the public.

WSU is replacing Don Beggs, who is retiring after 13 years in which he helped transform WSU.

He changed its focus to become more of an “urban-serving” university, with more emphasis on practical hands-on work with local industries involving, for example, aviation and engineering.

University officials say he not only redefined WSU’s purpose but probably defined who will replace him to continue the work.

The five candidates are:

The WSU and Wichita communities are invited to meet the candidates at the open forums. Feedback from the campus and community also will be sought with an online survey.

The presidential search committee will submit its candidate recommendations at the conclusion of the campus interviews to the Kansas Board of Regents.

The regents hope to name WSU’s 13th president in May. Beggs’ retirement becomes effective June 30.

The 20-member search committee, appointed by the regents in November 2011, includes WSU faculty, students, administration, staff and alumni and representatives of the Wichita community and Board of Regents.

This story was originally published April 6, 2012 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Wichita State selects five finalists for next university president."