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.