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Northland College names four presidential finalists

February 24, 2010

Four finalists have been invited to campus by the 12-person Northland College Presidential Search Committee. The candidates were selected from a national pool of nearly 200 applicants. The finalists will visit campus during the first and third weeks of March.

The candidates are: Donald R. Carlson, Carlson Consulting Inc., Old Greenwich, CT.; Michael Alan Miller, Dean of the College of Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato; Mary E. Morton Strey, Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Biology and Director of Science Initiatives at Gustavus Adolphus College. St. Peter, Minn; and Donald L. Tuski, President of Olivet College, Olivet, Mich.

"We truly enjoyed a large field of impressive candidates, and selecting four finalists was difficult," said Lowell Noteboom, Northland Trustee and Search Committee Chair. "With these four distinctive candidates, we have proven leaders who share a passion for Northland College's environmental liberal arts mission. We are looking forward to bringing each to campus so the entire community can learn about their vision and leadership style. Feedback from the campus will be an important consideration when the Board of Trustees makes a final selection."

Donald Carlson holds a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in Political Economy from Williams College. He has held several positions in business, including serving as Chief of Staff in the Office of the General Counsel at Goldman Sachs and as Legislative Director and Counsel for Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy. From 1990-92 he was Program Chair of Political Economy and Visiting Professor of Environmental Studies at Williams College.

Michael Miller earned a Ph.D. in School Psychology at Ball State University, an Ed.S. and M.A. also at Ball State and a B.A. in Mathematics at Hanover College. At Minnesota State University, Mankato, Miller served as Interim Vice President of University Advancement; he was Professor and Education Department Chair at Gustavus Adolphus College for five years. He has also served as a school psychologist.

Mary Strey holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Dartmouth and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Bowdoin College. At Gustavus, she also served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. From 2004 - 2007, Strey served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology at the University of Dayton.

Donald Tuski holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Anthropology from Michigan State University and a B.A., cum laud, from Olivet College. He has served as President of Olivet College since 2001 and previously held the positions of Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs, Chair of Social Science, and Professor of Anthropology at Olivet. During their visits to Northland College, each candidate will meet with campus and community groups.

The Search Committee expects to forward their recommendation to the Board of Trustees in early April so that a successor to President Karen Halbersleben, who resigned in July 2009, can begin in July 2010. Interim President James Peterson's leadership will continue until the appointment is filled. The national search has been coordinated by the firm Isaacson Miller.