Fifteen people have submitted applications to the University of Louisiana System to replace Nicholls President Donald Ayo upon his retirement in June.
Throughout this month, advertisements will continue to run, and according to a timeline set by the Presidential Search Committee, the semi finalists will be chosen by March and the new president will be named on April 25.
What follows is an overview of each applicant.
Clifford M. Brock, Ph.D., currently serves as the president of Bainbridge College in Bainbridge, Ga., and has held that position since 1999. Brock earned his doctorate of education with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in 1982. He completed his master’s degree of journalism in 1978 at the University of Oregon, and earned his undergraduate degree in English in 1970 from California State College in Fullerton, Calif.
Jeremy D. Brown, Ph.D., currently holds the position of Rector of Florida State University Panama and has been in this position since 2000. Rector, the title commonly used by universities in Latin America, serves the same functions as a president. Brown served Princeton University as the associate dean of the faculty and he was the associate dean of the graduate school at Yale University.
Brown earned his doctorate in 1982 from the University of Birmingham, England, in physics. He also received his bachelors in physics from the same institution.
Matthew Rex Burnham, Ph.D., is completing a post-doctoral program at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He completed his doctoral program with a major in physiology and minors in both biology and statistics at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. in 2002. At the same institution, he completed his Masters of Science in poultry science with a minor in physiology, and he received his Bachelor of Science in animal and diary science.
Fredrick J Dobney, Ph.D., is currently a professor of history at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. Until May, Dobney served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the same institution. At Loyola University in New Orleans he held the positions of dean of city college, dean of continuing education and director of special programs. Dobney earned his doctorate from Rice University in 1970, and his bachelor’s from Baylor University in 1966.
Stephen L. Hilterbran, Ph.D., has been retired from higher education for five years. He has served as vice president emeritus for student services at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Okla. He has also held the position of dean of students, interim vice president for student services and associate dean of students at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Okla.
Hilterbran earned his doctorate in education from the University of Oklahoma in 1990. Prior to that he earned his Master’s of Science in education from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 1976, and his bachelor’s in education from that same institution in 1972.
Terrance S. Hitchcock, Ph.D., is the executive director and founder of the Heroes and Dreams Foundation in St. Paul, Minn. This is a character education program for children ages 5 to 12. Hitchcock has held jobs in higher education teaching courses on management principles, marketing principles, international marketing, graduate level strategic planning and organizational design. Hitchcock earned his doctorate from Indiana Northern University in 1971, and his master’s degree in 1969 the same institution. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in 1967, and he received a law degree with emphasis in corporate law in 1979 from Woodrow Wilson College of Law.
David M. “Buck” Landry, Ph.D., currently serves as managing director of Morgan Keegan and Company Inc. in New Orleans. Landry left the realm of higher education 19 years ago. He was the head of the department of government at Nicholls from 1978 through 1984, where he developed the legal assistant studies and criminal justice programs. Prior to his work at Nicholls, he was the assistant to the dean of liberal arts and assistant professor of political science at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. After leaving positions in higher education, he managed the 1987 campaign for Congressman Billy Tauzin and prior to that served as president of the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency from 1984 through 1986.
Landry received his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend Ind., in 1972. He earned his master’s of international service in 1967 from American university in Washington, D.C., and his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in 1965.
Russel LeBlanc currently serves as manager of Town Finance Incorporated, in Baton Rouge. Prior to that he worked for Cardinal Credit, in Baton Rouge as a manager, and at Rainbow Credit, Inc. in Baton Rouge as an assistant manager and as a collector. He also served as assistant warehouse supervisor at Fina Oil and Chemical Plant in Carville, La. In his resume, LeBlanc did not make mention of his degrees or education, but chose instead to focus on his work, associations and insurance licenses.
Allen C. Meadors, Ph.D., currently serves as chancellor and professor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He served as CEO and dean at Penn State Altoona from 1994 through 1999. Meadors earned his doctorate from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., in 1981. He earned a master’s degree in health services management in 1980, and a master’s in psychology/human relations in 1979 from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. He also earned a master’s in public administration from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., in 1975, and a master’s in business administration from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., in 1974. Prior to that he earned a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark., in 1969, and an associate’s degree in computer sciences from Saddleback College in Viejo, Calif. in 1981.
Larry Merington currently serves as a senior management executive in Austin, Texas. He has also served as a senior vice president of operations and IT services for Bluecurrent, LLC in 2001. From 1996 through 2000, Merington served as the divisional vice president and president of Browning-Ferris Industries. Prior to that he served American Ref-Fuel as a business manager, vice president and director of marketing and business development from 1987 through 1996. Merington received his master’s in liberal arts from St. Edward’s University in 2002, his master’s of business administration coursework from University of California in 1979 and his bachelor’s from the University of Notre Dame in 1977.
Roosevelt Newson Jr., Ph. D., is in his fourth year serving as the dean of the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. Prior to this, he served as the dean of liberal arts and social sciences at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. Newson completed post-doctoral work at Juilliard School of Music in New York, N.Y., where he completed a professional studies certificate program in 1982. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Md., in 1977, and in 1971, he completed his master’s of music from the same institution. He earned his bachelor’s in music from Southern University in Baton Rouge in 1968.
Douglas C. Palzer, is the vice president for business and finance/CFO for Prairie View Health Care System in Newton, Kan. Prior to that he served PMP International Inc. in Wichita, Kan. as a chief executive officer. He worked at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. as chief financial officer/chief administrative officer. He is also retired from the United States Army where he served in many capacities. He earned his Master of Science in business administration from Boston University in Boston, Mass., in 1982. He earned his Bachelor of Business Admini
stration in accounting from Texas A&I University in Kingsville, Texas, in 1977.
Martin M. Shapiro, Ph.D., currently serves as adjunct professor of marketing and international business at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. He served as a professor of marketing, MBA advisor and consultant to the president at Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn. He served as associate professor of international economics at Troy State University in Wiesbaden, Germany. Shapiro earned his doctorate from New York University in public and international administration, and from that same institution he earned his master’s in international affairs. From Southern Illinois University, he earned his bachelor’s in government and mathematics.
Joseph Trahan III, Ph.D., a native of New Orleans, currently serves as a master instructor, resident department of defense media relations expert and chief-mobile training team for a Defense Information School, where he trains people on how to successfully deal with the media. He has also taught at Hood College, University of Virginia, University of Maryland and Central Michigan University. He taught at various other universities, mainly in the subject area of public affairs, media relations, community relations, news writing and public relations. He currently serves as a United States Army Reserve Commander for the 314th Public Affairs operations Center in Birmingham, Ala.
He earned his doctorate in mass communication with a concentration in public relations from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1991. He earned his master’s in public relations from Ball State University in 1984. In 1976, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in American military history from Tulane University.
Randall K. Wells, Ph.D., currently serves as associate dean of graduate and adult education at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He served Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., as assistant program director for the Leadership Education for Adults Program.
Wells earned his doctorate in leadership and education form Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., in 1996. He earned his master’s from the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., in 1989, and he earned his bachelor’s from Mount Vernon Nazarene College in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Complete applications can be checked out at the reserve desk of Ellender Memorial Library or they can be accessed from the library’s home page from the Nicholls website www.nicholls.edu/library
There will also be a public forum discussing the presidential search on Tuesday at noon in the Cotillion Ballroom.