IU provost may leave University for alma mater

Karen Hanson, provost and executive vice president, is a final candidate to be named senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Minnesota.

Hanson, who was named provost at IU in 2007, is one of four candidates for the U of M job. If selected, she would begin working at U of M in Minneapolis-St. Paul in early January 2012, leaving IU without a provost and the Bloomington campus without its primary administrative leadership.

Hanson graduated from U of M in 1970 with a degree in philosophy and mathematics, one of the factors that set her apart from other candidates, said Tim Mulcahy, U of M’s vice president for research and the chair of the provost search committee.

The committee began looking for a replacement for current Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Tom Sullivan in early summer after he announced he planned to retire at the end of the calendar year.

“Provost Hanson came to our attention as having been nominated by someone else,” Mulcahy said. “She took some time and consideration.”

Ultimately, though, Hanson continued with the process and became part of the short list, which includes Robert Elde, dean of the U of M College of Biological Sciences; Gary Wihl, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at Washington University; and Allen Levine, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at U of M.

Hanson will meet with campus stakeholders at U of M on Tuesday, and a final decision is expected by early October.

-Michael Auslen