The Oregon State University Board of Trustees Friday named two finalist candidates to serve as Oregon State University’s next president. The candidates will visit the OSU Corvallis campus Monday, May 23 and Tuesday, May 24, as part of the presidential search process.

These candidates are Jayathi Y. Murthy, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and Charles R. Martinez, Jr., dean of the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin.

On Monday, May 23, community conversations with Martinez will be held from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. and from 1 to 1:45 p.m. in the Memorial Union Journey Room A, and a university forum, including a candidate  presentation, will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. in the MU Horizon Room. The OSU Board of Trustees will interview Martinez in executive session Monday morning at 8 a.m.

On Tuesday, community conversations with Murthy will be held from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. and from 1 to 1:45 p.m. in the Memorial Union Journey Room A and a university forum, including a candidate  presentation, will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. in the MU Horizon Room. The OSU Board of Trustees will interview Murthy in executive session Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.

These public community conversations and forums will be held in-person, streamed live and recorded with a link for later viewing available on the presidential search website. The search website also will have a link for OSU community members and stakeholders to provide feedback on candidates.

“We are very pleased to have such excellent and highly qualified finalists,” board chair Kirk Schueler wrote in an email to the OSU community Friday afternoon.

He credited the exhaustive work of the presidential search advisory committee, the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, and the work of the Board of Trustees. Trustees interviewed six candidates and considered four semi-finalist candidates before inviting two finalists to visit OSU’s Corvallis campus.

Schueler also acknowledged the valuable input provided by university community members and stakeholders via a web survey and during 15 listening sessions regarding what qualities and qualifications OSU’s next president should possess, and what opportunities and challenges face the university in the future.

The search process includes background checks and due diligence reviews of candidates advanced to campus visits, Schueler said. The reviews were undertaken by the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller and an independent contractor engaged by OSU’s Board of Trustees to conduct comprehensive background checks of finalist candidates. The OSU’s Office of Human Resources also will contribute to the due diligence process. Additional due diligence work will be completed and considered by the board before the final appointment of a president is made.

The due diligence was a recommendation that came out of a retrospective review of the university’s last presidential search process.

Schueler anticipates the board will make a final decision on its presidential selection on June 3 or June 7.

“Along with other members of the OSU Board of Trustees, I believe we are at a remarkable place in the university’s history,” Schueler said in his email. “And I see a very bright future ahead for Oregon State University, thanks to the contributions and achievements of OSU students, faculty and staff, and the engagement and support of university alumni, donors and stakeholders. This significant momentum and impact is being felt throughout Oregon, the nation and the world. And will only grow with the leadership of the university’s next president.”

May 21, 2022