Shirvani Selected as University System Chancellor Posted on 3/14/2012
For More Information Contact: John R. Irby, Public Affairs Consultant North Dakota University System Phone: 701.328.2962 E-mail: john.irby@ndus.edu
BISMARCK, N.D. - Hamid Augustine Shirvani has been named chancellor of the North Dakota University System. Shirvani, 61, was selected Tuesday by the State Board of Higher Education and is expected to begin his appointment by July 1.
"Dr. Shirvani's record of leadership, working with students and his visionary approach to higher education makes him the perfect fit to lead the North Dakota University System," said Grant Shaft, SBHE President.
Shirvani, president since 2005 of California State University-Stanislaus, Turlock, Calif., was selected after two finalists emerged, including Marshall Hill, executive director, Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education, Lincoln, Neb. Two others had also been recommended by the search committee and invited to final interviews Tuesday, and were removed from further consideration during discussion of the final four. They were Tim Flakoll, provost of Tri-College University, Fargo-Moorhead, and Warren Kent Wray, interim chancellor, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Mo.
North Dakota's new chancellor will be paid between $340,000 and $350,000, according to Shaft, slightly above the state's highest-paid university president. The chancellor serves as the chief executive officer of the SBHE, is the chief executive officer of the NDUS and carries out the policies and directives of the board of higher education. The NDUS office is located at the state Capitol in Bismarck. Shirvani will succeed William Goetz, who is retiring in August.
Shirvani earned a master's degree from Harvard and a doctorate from Princeton. He has served as a professor or administrator in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania.
Direct reports to the chancellor include the campus presidents, the vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, the vice chancellor for administrative affairs, the vice chancellor for strategic planning and executive director of CTEC, the general counsel/SBHE executive secretary, chief information officer, director of internal audit and risk assessment, the public affairs and marketing director and the executive assistant/office manager.