Four finalists for the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences dean position will visit WSU during the two weeks after Thanksgiving break.

This is the college’s second attempt to recruit a new dean to replace Ron Mittelhammer, who plans to retire. Earlier this year, two of the first three candidates withdrew, and Provost Dan Bernardo decided not to hire the third.

Each candidate will spend one and a half days at the Pullman campus, according to a WSU News release. After this, they will visit the Wenatchee Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center and the Northwest Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon for a half day each.

• Gregory Lardy, the associate vice president for agricultural affairs at North Dakota State University, will visit Pullman on Nov. 27.
• André-Denis Wright, an endowed professor and director of the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the University of Arizona, will visit on Nov. 29.
• Gary Thompson, associate dean for research and graduate education of Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, will visit on Dec. 4.
• John Kirby, dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island, will visit on Dec. 6.

Each candidate will outline his plans for CAHNRS, and hold a Q&A session, from 9:10 – 10:30 a.m. on the day they come to Pullman. The location has yet to be announced.