October 3, 1997 - Four finalists to interview for presidency of North Hennepin Community College - Appointment to be made by November 1, 1997

Four finalists for the presidency of North Hennepin Community College, Brooklyn Park, have been invited to participate in campus interviews beginning Monday, Oct. 6.

The candidates are Roger Andersen, president of Adirondack Community College, Queensbury, N.Y.; James R. Davis, president of Lehigh Carbon Community College, Penn.; O. Clayton Johnson, provost of Wayne County Community College, Detroit; and Ann Wynia, faculty member at North Hennepin and former legislator.

The finalists were selected after a national search by a screening committee comprising college and community representatives. The committee was chaired by Patrick Johns, president of Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

After the campus interviews, the screening committee will evaluate the candidates and forward their names to Morris Anderson, chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Anderson will interview the finalists, along with members of the Board of Trustees, and the board will appoint a president at its next meeting, Oct. 21 and 22. Yvette Jackson, vice president for academic and student affairs at the college, has served as interim president since June 1996.

• Andersen has been president of Adirondack Community College since 1988. Prior to that appointment he held several administrative posts at Allegeny Community College, Cumberland, Md. He holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
• Davis became president of Lehigh Carbon Community College in 1992, after serving as president of Royal Oak/Southfield Campuses of Oakland Community College, Mich., from 1986 to 1992. He was previously president of three other colleges in Washington and Illinois. He holds a Ph.D. in educational administration and supervision from the University of Illinois.
• Johnson has been provost and chief executive officer of the Wayne County campus since 1994. Previously he was president of Quincy College, Quincy, Mass. He also held administrative posts in New Jersey, Wisconsin, New York and Illinois. He holds a Ph.D. in social foundation and history from Rutgers University.
• Wynia has been an instructor in political science at North Hennepin since 1970. She was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1977 to 1989 and majority leader of the House from 1987 to 1989. She was commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 1989 and 1990 and was a candidate in 1994 for the U.S. Senate. She was a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents for three years.

North Hennepin Community College serves more than 8,000 students. The college has emphasized transfer curriculum, career programs and continuing education from its beginning in 1966. The college's top five programs by enrollment are nursing, business, legal assistant careers, law enforcement and education.

MnSCU is the largest single provider of higher education in the state of Minnesota. The system serves approximately 145,000 students on 54 campuses and includes community colleges, technical colleges, comprehensive community and technical colleges, and state universities.