Three finalists recommended for Winona State University presidency

Posted: March 3, 2005

Contact: Doug Anderson, doug.anderson@MinnState.edu, 651-201-1426

The names of three finalists for president of Winona State University have been advanced to the chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, James H. McCormick. The candidates are Stephen Kopp, Judith Ramaley and John Wanat.

The finalists were recommended by a search committee chaired by Roland Barden, president of Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Stephen Kopp is special assistant to the chancellor for the Ohio Board of Regents. Previously, he served as provost at Ohio University and was founding dean for the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professionals at Central Michigan University. He holds a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Notre Dame.

Judith Ramaley is the assistant director for education and human resources at the National Science Foundation. Previously, she was Presidential Professor of Biomedical Sciences and a fellow at the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine at Orono on leave to the National Science Foundation. She also served as president of the University of Vermont. She holds a Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a bachelor's degree in zoology from Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa.

John Wanat has served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is professor of political science. Previously, he was vice provost, executive associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Liberal Arts, all at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; a master's degree in political science from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. and bachelor's degree with honors in mathematics from Loyola University in Chicago.

The new president will replace Darrell Krueger, who is retiring.

Chancellor McCormick and members of the Board of Trustees will conduct interviews with the finalists. McCormick will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, which could act on the recommendation during its March 15-16 meeting.

Winona State University is located in Winona and also serves the higher education needs in Rochester through the Winona State University-Rochester Center. Winona State University was founded in 1858 as the first college in the present system of state universities and the first teacher preparatory school west of the Mississippi River. Students can earn bachelor's and master's degrees in more than 80 undergraduate academic areas and 16 graduate level programs.