COLLEGE STATION, Texas, March 19 (UPI) -- Three candidates for the presidency of Texas A&M University were announced Tuesday by the search advisory committee.
Dr. Robert Gates, director of the Forum for International Policy in Washington, Dr. Richard Herman, provost at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Jon Whitmore, provost at the University of Iowa, were invited for interviews on campus.
"These are stellar candidates," said Dr. John L. Junkins, distinguished professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M and chairman of the search committee. "They bring vast experiences and share common attributes; they are proven executives with substantial and impressive records of accomplishment."
Retiring Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, had been mentioned a possible candidate but he was not on the list of finalists. He taught economics for more than 10 years at Texas A&M before first entering the political arena as a congressman in 1978.
The candidates, who were chosen from a list of about 125 individuals, will visit the campus for interviews in the next few weeks. The advisory committee will submit its final evaluations to Chancellor Howard Graves. He will submit his recommendations to the board of regents, which will appoint the successor to retiring President Ray Bowen.
