The leader of the worldβs largest medical complex and an expert in computer engineering and informatics are in the running to become the next University of Arizona president.
But the campus community will not get to meet the contenders before one of the two is ruled out.
Dr. Robert C. Robbins, president and CEO of Texas Medical Center, and Sethuraman βPanchβ Panchanathan, executive vice president and chief research and innovation officer at Arizona State Universityβs Knowledge Enterprise Development, were named on Tuesday as finalists to replace UA President Ann Weaver Hart.
The Arizona Board of Regents met behind closed doors in Phoenix on Tuesday to go over a short list of presidential hopefuls. Of those the regents were interested in, Robbins and Panchanathan were the only two who said βyesβ when asked if they were willing to go forward, said Regent Ron Shoopman of Tucson, co-chair of the UA presidential search committee.
βWe feel they both have the potential to lead the UA into the future in a dynamic way,β Shoopman said of the finalists.
Regents arenβt saying how many other names were on the presidential short list, which was put together by an advisory committee after a two-day marathon of interviewing hopefuls at a Phoenix-area resort.
Both finalists will be interviewed again on March 6 by regents, who will decide that day to eliminate one of the two contenders. Two days later, on March 8, the lone remaining finalist will come to Tucson to meet with the campus community, Shoopman said.
Asked why regents are eliminating one finalist instead of inviting them both to campus, Shoopman said the search consultant that the board hired recommended the single-finalist approach.
Board of Regents Chair Greg Patterson said both contenders are βoutstanding candidates and highly respected academic and research leaders.β
Panchanathan, founding director of ASUβs school of computing and informatics, has a special interest in technology that increases the quality of life for people with disabilities.
He received his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Ottawa. Panchanathan has been with ASU since 1997.
βI am honored to be at this stage in the boardβs process to find the next president of the University of Arizona,β he wrote in an email after being named a finalist.
Robbins joined Texas Medical Center in 2012, where he has introduced new research initiatives in several areas including genomics and regenerative medicine.
The organization he now leads is many times larger than the UA. The Texas Medical Center system, with more than 100,000 employees and a $20 billion consolidated operating budget, comprises 57 institutions including 21 hospitals.
Before Texas, he was a professor and chaired the department of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.
He holds a medical degree from the University of Mississippi.
Robbins could not be reached for comment.
