PULLMAN, Wash. — Four candidates have been selected for interviews for the position of vice president for business affairs at Washington State University.
John Pettit, assistant vice president for business and personnel services at the University of Washington, will be the first to visit campus for meetings with university officials, faculty, staff and students.
Pettit will discuss issues facing higher education and answer questions in an open public forum Monday, June 15, at 2 p.m. in Murrow Communications Center, Room 52. The presentation will be televised and transmitted to branch campus locations.
A 1968 WSU graduate, Pettit earned a law degree from UW and served as an assistant attorney general from 1973 to 1977, advising and representing education agencies and institutions. He has been on the UW staff since 1977 and served as acting executive vice president in 1995-96.
Len McComb, former director of the Washington state revenue and financial management offices, also will be on campus for interviews next week. His public presentation is scheduled for Thursday, June 18, at 10 a.m. in Murrow, Room 52.
McComb is principal and owner of Two Medicine Communications L.L.C., a public affairs consulting firm. He was director of OFM from 1989-93 and revenue director from 1993-97. He also has served as a budget and policy analyst for the Democratic Policy Office in the state House of Representatives and later was director of the office.
A 1968 graduate of Montana State University, McComb earned a master’s degree in political science and economics from York University in Toronto, Ontario, and completed course requirements for a doctorate. He also attended Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government’s program for state and local government executives in 1991.
Scheduled later for campus interviews are Samuel L. Kindred, a retired Army general, and Morgan R. Olsen, vice president for business affairs at Eastern Illinois University.
Kindred’s public presentation is set for Tuesday, June 24, at 9 a.m., and Olsen’s at 3 p.m., Wednesday, June 24. Both are scheduled in Murrow, Room 52 and will be televised to branch campuses.
Recently retired as brigadier general and deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Kindred earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hampton Institute, Virginia, and a master’s degree from Central Michigan University. He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Training Program at Stanford University and the Leader Development Program at the Center for Creative Leadership. His military assignments have included serving as commanding general of 3rd Corps Support Command-Europe; deputy commanding general, 21st Theater Army Logistical Command-Europe; and executive assistant to the CEO, Army Materiel Command.
Olsen has been vice president at Eastern Illinois since 1995, after 10 years at Emporia State University in Kansas where he served as associate vice president for fiscal affairs/business manager and later as vice president. He also was an interim state records manager, management and fiscal analyst, and acting executive budget analyst for the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Dakota and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Kansas.
ar327-98
