MADISON – University of Wisconsin System President Kevin P. Reilly today announced the names of the finalists for the position of chancellor at UW-La Crosse.

The names have been forwarded to the Board of Regents’ Special Committee for the UW-La Crosse Chancellor Search, which will interview the finalists in Madison on Nov. 1. The committee is chaired by Regent Brent Smith of La Crosse, and includes Regents Judith Crain of Green Bay, Tom Loftus of Sun Prairie, and Jesus Salas of Milwaukee.

The full Board of Regents will take final action once it receives a recommendation from the Special Committee and President Reilly.

The finalists, their titles and current institutions are as follows:

  • Royce C. Engstrom
    Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
    University of South Dakota (Vermillion, S.D.)
  • Joe Gow
    Interim President
    Nebraska Wesleyan University (Lincoln, Neb.)
  • Patrick McGhee
    Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Deputy President
    University of Central Lancashire (United Kingdom)
  • Virginia Sapiro
    Associate Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning
    University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Beverly J. Schmoll
    Dean, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
    Wayne State University (Detroit, Mich.)

A 17-member campus/community search and screen committee, chaired by Carmen Wilson, UW-La Crosse professor of psychology, submitted the recommendations of these five finalists to the Special Regent Committee and the President. The person chosen will become UW-La Crosse’s 10th chancellor, succeeding Doug Hastad, now president of Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis.

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