Temple’s leader is expected to be the next president at the University of Arizona.
President Ann Weaver Hart traveled to Arizona yesterday, Feb. 13, to scout out what will likely be her new stomping grounds.
Temple’s departing leader was selected as the top, and sole, candidate for the 21st president of the University of Arizona, according to a press release by its Board of Regents.
“Dr. Hart is a dynamic leader with a distinguished résumé and an impeccable track record of successfully managing and advancing world-class research institutions,” Board of Regents Chair Fred DuVal said in the press release. “We are extremely pleased that Dr. Hart has agreed to pursue the presidency.”
Hart, Temple’s ninth and first female president, announced her intentions to step down in September 2011.
When stepping down at the beginning of the academic year, Hart cited a need to be closer to her ailing mother in Salt Lake City, when the university officially announced her resignation.
“I just felt like it’s a good personal and professional time for a transition,” Hart told The Temple News on the day of her resignation announcement. “I began to talk about it with my family this summer, and decided soon after I returned from vacation.”
Hart’s contract at Te mple was renewed on a year-to-year basis.
Hart’s visit to the Arizona campus yesterday was arranged so she could meet with students and faculty, before the Board of Regents makes a final decision on the presidency.
If Hart is chosen and her contract is approved, she would start at Arizona on July 1, Katie Paquet, a spokesperson for the university’s Board of Regents, said.
Hart will remain Temple’s president until the end of June.
Hart declined to comment before her trip.
Patrick J. O’Connor, chairman of Temple’s Board of Trustees, said Hart has “seen Temple through a period of great accomplishment and progress,” in a press release. “We wish President Hart well at the University of Arizona.”
Before assuming her position at Temple, Hart was the president of the University of New Hampshire.
The search for Temple’s 10th president, by the Presidential Search Committee, is still underway.
Brian Dzenis and Angelo Fichera can be reached at news@temple-news.com.
Be the first to comment