UM’s Hoff among 4 finalists for head of Nebraska system

LINCOLN, Neb. – University of Maine President Peter Hoff is among four finalists named Friday for the position of president at the University of Nebraska.

Also named finalists by the school’s selection committee were Kim Robak, a former Nebraska lieutenant governor; Adm. Jim Ellis, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha; and James B. Milliken, a senior vice president at the University of North Carolina.

Search committee co-chairman Keith Olsen said the committee met with three of the finalists in Kansas City and one in Omaha. He said any of the four candidates would be an outstanding president. The committee did not rank the candidates in order of preference, he said.

Beginning May 10, each candidate will spend about two days touring the system, meeting with the public, staff and faculty, according to Joe Rowson, director of communications. The new president will be announced June 1.

The University of Nebraska has four campuses – including a medical center – and a total of 46,000 students. Each campus is governed by a chancellor, who reports to the president. A single board of regents governs the system. University of Nebraska at Lincoln is the main campus, with 22,000 students.

Hoff, 59, is the only candidate who has no direct ties to the state, Olson said.

Hoff couldn’t be reached for comment Friday, but he has served as president of the University of Maine System’s flagship campus in Orono since August 1997, a tenure that is the longest for a UMaine president in 38 years.

He previously held posts in the California State University System and the University System of Georgia.

Hoff was hired to remake the university’s image and boost declining revenue and falling enrollment at the Orono campus.

Enrollment has since increased by 23 percent, to 11,222 students. During the same period, research funding also has doubled, and the university has spent more than $100 million on new construction and facility upgrades.

Hoff has been among the final candidates for leadership positions at two other universities in recent years.

In November, Hoff was one of five finalists for the presidency at the University of Texas-Arlington but took himself out of the running.

And in May 2002 he was one of three announced finalists for the chancellor’s position in the Oregon University System before he withdrew his name from consideration.

Current University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith, 65, announced in September that he would retire effective June 30.