USC’s next president: Board’s search nearly over

Trustees plan to vote Friday to name Sorensen’s successor

By WAYNE WASHINGTON - wwashington@thestate.com

USC’s Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Friday to select a new president, trustees said Tuesday after a three-hour, closed-door meeting to discuss the search.

Trustees will vote to select one of three finalists, who will be named today or Thursday, said trustee Miles Loadholt, chairman of the board’s presidential search committee.

Loadholt and other trustees would not say publicly which candidates are being considered to succeed Andrew Sorensen, who is stepping down from the job he has held since 2002.

“We’ve deliberated,” said Herb Adams, trustees chairman. “We’ve interviewed eight candidates. The board has seen five candidates.”

Blogs and newspaper reports have floated the names of two potential successors to Sorensen: Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health sciences at USC, and Andrew Card, former chief of staff to President George W. Bush.

Pastides, who also is executive director of USC’s research foundation, was the lone finalist for the presidency of the Georgia State University system but withdrew from consideration June 30.

He has three degrees from Yale University and has been a key factor in bringing research money to USC.

Pastides would not comment on the search Tuesday.

Card, a USC alum, has been the beneficiary of a campaign of supporters who say his extensive connections would help him raise money for the university.

Sorensen, who turns 70 on July 20, has said USC’s need to launch a $500 million, seven-year fundraising push that can begin and end under one president was reason he is stepping down.

Card is on the board of Union Pacific and has extensive connections with GOP movers and shakers.

But Card’s selection would be political, and university presidents in recent years have tried to stay above the political fray, lest they offend important players in South Carolina and Washington, where funding decisions are made.

Efforts Tuesday to reach Card were unsuccessful.

Not speaking specifically about Card, Loadholt and Adams said they are not troubled by the lobbying efforts of supporters.

“We get letters, e-mails,” Loadholt said. “It’s helpful to the process. I just take them in stride.”

Could the lobbying for a candidate with powerful connections serve as an unwelcome push?

Adams smiled as he considered the question.

“I look at people calling on behalf of candidates as people expressing their love for the university,” he said. “I’m not offended by it. We’re not threatened by it.”

The presidency of a major university is a coveted job, but conducting a candidate search is a delicate task.

State law requires at least three finalists be publicly named before a new president is chosen.

However, candidates who already are college presidents frequently want their interest in a new job to remain private to avoid offending their own boards.

They, like job-seekers in other fields, want to tell their current employers about their interest in leaving only after they have the security of another job.

Some presidential candidates — usually those at the vice president or provost level — could see a benefit in being named publicly as a finalist for a university presidency.

It could serve as a reminder to their own school of their ambition and of the interest other schools have in them.

If USC’s 2002 presidential selection process is a guide, the three finalists announced today or Thursday could include candidates who are not being seriously considered. In 2002, one candidate named as a finalist had pulled out of consideration. A board member said the finalist was included on the list to comply with state law requiring three finalists.

Reach senior writer Wayne Washington at (803) 771-8385.