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4 named as finalists to be University’s next president

Jan. 26, 2023 | Updated: Feb. 3, 2023

Northwest Missouri State University’s Board of Regents has announced the names of four individuals identified by a search committee as finalists to become the University’s 11th president.

The candidates are Dr. Michael Godard, provost at Southeast Missouri State University; Dr. David P. Jones, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Minnesota State University, Mankato; Dr. Kent Porterfield, vice provost of student affairs at Gonzaga University; and Dr. Lance Tatum, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Troy University.

“The search committee was delighted with the quality of the candidates who interviewed last week, and we are enthusiastic about introducing each finalist to the Northwest community as they make campus visits over the next few weeks,” said John Moore, who is the chair of Northwest’s Presidential Search Committee and serves as chair of the Board of Regents.

Each of the finalists will visit the Northwest campus in Maryville for interactions with stakeholder groups in addition to town hall-style meetings that are open to all students, employees, alumni, community members and other individuals who may be unable to participate in stakeholder-specific sessions. The public forums also will be available via zoom for people who cannot attend in person.

More information about the finalists, as well as public forums to ask questions of the candidates, is provided below. For up to two days after each visit, the Northwest community will have an opportunity to submit their input regarding the finalists by completing a brief, online survey at www.nwmissouri.edu/presidentsearch/.

The announcement of finalists launches the next phase of the University’s presidential search process, which began last summer and included a series of input sessions involving Northwest students, employees, alumni and community members.

Northwest is partnering with Anthem Executive, a Houston-based search firm, to recruit its next president. A Presidential Search Committee, consisting of 15 people representing varied Northwest stakeholder groups, reviewed applicants and identified the finalists after a series of interviews with candidates Jan. 18-19.



Contact

Dr. Mark Hornickel
Administration Building
Room 215
660.562.1704
mhorn@nwmissouri.edu