IU leader could be named Friday

An IU spokesman said that the announcement of the University’s next president could come as early as the end of the week.\nAfter the trustees finish this week’s four closed-door meetings and if they feel comfortable about announcing the selected candidate, their decision will be announced during their scheduled business meetings Thursday and Friday at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis, said Larry MacIntyre, director of IU media relations.\nBut MacIntyre, comparing the final stage of the search to the Vatican’s secret selection of a new pope, said if the trustees do not reach a consensus on who they thought could best lead the University, they would not rush their decision.\n“This is like watching the Vatican apartments for a puff of white smoke,” MacIntyre said.\nHe said the only thing left to do is to wait for the trustees’ decision.\n“I think there is a possibility a decision could come this week,” MacIntyre said. He would not comment further on the announcement’s likelihood.\nOnce the trustees decide, MacIntyre said, there will be little delay in making the announcement public.\n“The trustees recognize that once they have come to a consensus on who they want as the next president, they should go ahead and take a vote on it and make it official,” he said. \nThe anticipated announcement is the final step in selecting IU President Adam Herbert’s successor.\nThe search, which began last year, has been subject to strict guidelines of secrecy. None of the position’s potential candidates have been announced or confirmed by the University’s trustees, the Presidential Search Committee or the Faculty Advisory Committee.\nStill, during the past several weeks, significant chatter about probable candidates has spread. Faculty leaders and a top University administrator have named Interim Provost Michael McRobbie and Dr. Ora Pescovitz, CEO and president of Riley Hospital for Children, as likely finalists for the University’s top job.\nThe trustees, however, have not confirmed anyone as a candidate.\nIf the trustees hold out on the announcement during this week’s meetings, MacIntyre said, the earliest a decision could come would be at the trustees’ next business meeting, slated for April 5. \n“A lot of people will be watching this meeting to see what happens,” MacIntyre said, but he warned that the trustees still had “a lot of work to do.”