(AUSTIN) – A search committee assembled last year to help recruit the next president of Lamar Institute of Technology has narrowed the field of candidates to four. The Advisory Search Committee, appointed by Dr. Jaime Garza, chairman of the Board of Regents of the Texas State University System (TSUS), selected the finalists from a field of nearly 40 candidates identified in a national search.
The committee, chaired by Regent Bill Scott, conducted in-person interviews last month and is recommending four finalists to TSUS Chancellor Brian McCall, who will select a sole finalist. The finalists are:
Gaby N. Hawat, Ed.D., currently special assistant to the president and senior executive for strategic initiatives and economic development at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. Previously, he served as senior project director at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida.
Lonnie L. Howard, Ph.D., currently president/CEO of Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Washington. Previously, he served as executive director of the School of Continuing & Professional Studies at the University of Houston System in Houston, Texas.
F. Lynn Moore, Ph.D., currently president/CEO of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Cumberland, Kentucky. Previously, she served as vice president for administrative services and student services at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
Ricky Tompkins, Ed.D., currently vice president for learning and chief academic officer at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Arkansas. Previously, he served as associate vice president for research and planning at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Chancellor McCall will meet with each finalist in the coming weeks before naming a sole finalist. Additionally, faculty, staff and the community will have an opportunity to meet the finalists during public forums scheduled April 19 in Beaumont. The times and locations of the public forums will be posted on LIT’s website, www.lit.edu, in the coming days.
The sole finalist in this search will succeed current LIT President Paul Szuch, who is retiring after 10 years of service to the institute.
Lamar Institute of Technology is a member of the Texas State University System, which comprises eight institutions from the Big Bend Region to the Gulf Coast. The Texas State University System is the oldest university system in Texas with enrollment approaching 83,000 students.
