University of Utah passes up Prager
The University of Utah Board of Regents chose its president Thursday, selecting George Washington University School of Law Dean Michael Young from a field of three finalists that included Susan Prager, professor and former dean at the UCLA School of Law.
Young was picked by the regents after a six-month search that began when J. Bernard Machen announced he would leave to take the University of Florida presidency.
Young will begin his duties as president this summer, taking over the helm from Lorris Betz, a professor and senior vice president for health sciences who has served as the school’s interim president since January.
Prager, Young and University of Tennessee, Knoxville Chancellor Loren Crabtree were in Utah on Thursday for extensive interviews with the regents.
Choosing between three remaining candidates narrowed from a field of 147, the regents were “faced with a difficult decision, given the personal qualities and experience of each of the finalists,” said George Mantes, the regents’ vice chair.
Prager served as the law school’s dean from 1982 to 1998 – a tenure longer than that of any other dean. She returned to teach at UCLA in 2001 after serving as provost of Dartmouth College.
She was the first alum to become the School of Law’s dean, and many at UCLA view Prager as a campus leader because of her experience and involvement on campus-wide task forces and committees.
“She has a reputation as being an outstanding dean, one of the finest in the country when she was serving,” said Norman Abrams, acting law school dean. “She certainly led the law school to new heights.”
This year’s presidential selection process has been more transparent than during past searches. Utah’s regents adopted a new policy a couple of years ago, changing the process from one of complete secrecy to one requiring disclosure of finalists’ names, said David Buhler, the board’s spokesman.
“There’s been more effort to make sure the university community’s aware and involved (in the process),” he said.
This time around, the university set up an e-mail account through which students and other community members could send comments about finalists. Buhler said over 70 e-mails had been received since April 22, when the regents announced the final three candidates.
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