Nebraska delays president pick, says UM’s Hoff still in running

LINCOLN, Neb. – The University of Nebraska Board of Regents decided not to select a new university president Tuesday, opting instead to conduct additional interviews with J.B. Milliken and Adm. James Ellis Jr. in its search for a new head. University of Maine President Peter Hoff is also a finalist.

Board Chairman Don Blank of McCook said people should not jump to the conclusion that Ellis and Milliken are considered the front-runners simply because the regents want more information.

“Nobody is out of the running yet; don’t read anything into that,” Blank said.

The additional interviews are scheduled for May 28 in Lincoln. Blank said each candidate will get an hour and a half interview.

The regents, who held a daylong meeting behind closed doors, had been expected to choose a president Tuesday to replace the retiring L. Dennis Smith.

Regent Chuck Hassebrook of Lyons said the more than seven hours of meetings was not contentious, just inconclusive.

The finalists vying for the position are Milliken, Ellis, Kim Robak and Hoff.

Hoff, 59, is the only one of the four who has spent his entire career in higher education. Hoff started as a professor at the University of Wisconsin in 1970 and he held administrative positions at universities in three other states until 1997 when he became president of the University of Maine.