By Jody Record, Media Relations
December 13, 2006

Jack Burns, a candidate in the search for a new UNH president, came to town this week to participate in several forums aimed at letting the university community get to know him.

A recording of one of his meetings can be viewed at Jack Burns, Ph.D. Open Forum (WMV) DVDs and VHS tapes of the meetings are available at Dimond Library.

A professor and National Science Foundation and NASA-funded researcher in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Burns was on campus Monday and Tuesday, meeting with faculty, staff and administrators.

The other individual being considered for the job, John C. Cavanaugh, president of the University of West Florida, was here last week.

The deadline for Presidential Candidate evaluations is Thursday, Dec.14 at 2 p.m. Evaluations for both candidates can submitted to the attention of Celine Chiasson in 207 Thompson Hall or e-mailed to celine.chiasson@unh.edu. Evaluation form can be found at:

http://www.unh.edu/president/jbonnienewman/search/CandidateAssessmentForm.pdf

Burns has held several leadership positions in higher education including vice president for academic affairs and research for the University of Colorado System and vice provost for research at the University of Missouri. He was previously on the faculty at New Mexico State University where he also had an administrative position.

Burns has been widely published in refereed journals, books, and in conference proceedings and abstracts. He received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in astrophysics from the University of Massachusetts, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in astronomy from Indiana University. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and has been and continues to be very involved in many national and statewide research and academic organizations.

The curriculum vitae and a detailed biography for each candidate are available online at www.unh.edu and the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Web site at www.usnh.edu. In addition, copies of the biographical information will be available for review at the Dimond Library reference desk and at the UNH-Manchester library.

After the candidate visits have been completed, the search committee will meet on Dec.15 to make final recommendations to USNH Chancellor Stephen Reno. Reno will do a thorough review of the candidates and submit his recommendation to the USNH Board of Trustees as expeditiously as possible. Following approval by the board, the new president will take office as soon as they are available. Given the positions of the two finalists, neither would likely start until the beginning of the 2007-08 academic year.