The search for a provost to fill the position vacated by Elizabeth D. Capaldi is on this week, as members of the search committee and the UB community continue to meet with three final candidates.
Satish Tripathi, dean of engineering at the University of California, Riverside; David Daniel, dean of engineering at the University of Illinois; and Martin Moskovits, dean of mathematical, life and physical sciences in the College of Letters and Science at the University of California Santa Barbara have been named finalists in the search.
After receiving over 100 nominations, applications and inquiries, the Provost Search Committee chose 12 candidates earlier this month for preliminary interviews. The list was then narrowed down to three finalists invited for on-campus visits, according to the provost search Web site.
Tripathi was introduced to the university on March 22, and Moskovits is scheduled to visit tomorrow.
Friday, Daniel paid a visit to campus and met with members of the UB community on the fifth floor of Capen Hall, informing those in attendance that he is eager for the chance at the leadership opportunity.
"UB aspires to be one of the great universities of the nations," Daniel said. "It's a compelling vision to me."
Faculty and staff got their chance at Friday's forum to ask Daniel questions about his broader plans for UB.
Bruce Jackson, distinguished professor and Samuel P. Capen professor of American Culture, asked Daniel what he would do as provost to garner more attention for the arts.
"No great university can be a great university without being high in arts and humanities," Daniel said.
Daniel said he feels the university must pay careful attention to the allocation of resources and have an outreach program to focus energy on certain projects.
"Don't just give a department X number of dollars," Daniel said. "You need to plan a project and build around themes for leverage. That will make sense to people."
Daniel was also asked about his prospective promotions and tenure for faculty and staff. He said things of this nature are better handled by particular departments.
"A healthy and high quality university is one that does it on a departmental level," Daniel said. "A healthy promotion and tenure starts with a healthy peer review on a departmental level."
When asked what he thought were the signs of excellence in a university, Daniel had a few responses.
"At my college, one thing to measure excellence by is where our Ph.D. students go from our university," he said. "Look at the leading universities, and it's the single most vital sign of health in a research university."
According to Daniel, the prestige and industry success of faculty members also plays a big part.
"Major awards given to faulty is another sign of excellence," he said. "The level of success is measured by faculty."
On an undergraduate level, measures of excellence for Daniel include a solid mean high school grade point average for incoming students and the level of their performance while at UB.
"Another critical factor is the quality of the undergraduate population," he said. "I like high school ranking more than SAT scores."
Daniel said that to make UB a better institution, success must be shared among all departments.
"Excellence in a university is brought through broad excellence," he said.
Daniel received his bachelor's and master's degrees and doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Texas. He moved from assistant professor to associate professor, to professor to associate chairman for academic affairs between 1981 and 1996.
He then moved to the University of Illinois where he served as a professor and head of the department of civil and environmental engineering.
Daniel served as vice-chair of "Staging of High-Level Geologic Repositories for Radioactive Waste" for the National Academies from 2001 to 2003. He also was chair of "Risk-Based Approaches for Disposition of Radioactive Waste" for the National Academies from 2003 to present.
Daniel has received many honors and awards, which include the National Academy of Engineering Award in 2000 and the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the University of Texas in 2002.
