Garnett Stokes, provost of the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus, is one of five finalists to become president of the University of New Mexico.

The school in Albuquerque in a news release Friday said Stokes will be on campus Oct. 23 for an open forum with faculty, staff and students.

The other four candidates are University of Idaho President Charles Staben, University of California-San Diego Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and School of Medicine Dean David Brenner, Stony Brook University Vice President of Health Sciences and School of Medicine Dean Kenneth Kaushansky and Micaela Group founder and President Anny Morrobel-Sosa.

Stokes became MU provost in February 2015 and was interim chancellor from May until August, when Alexander Cartwright took over the job.

Being a candidate for UNM president doesn't diminish her commitment to MU, Stokes said in a statement issued Friday afternoon.

"I’m pleased to be chosen as a finalist for this position; it’s a wonderful opportunity that I’m excited to explore," she said. "Like the University of Missouri, the University of New Mexico is a flagship research university that impacts the lives of the citizens of the state. I continue to be very much invested in what we are doing at Mizzou, and I am especially enjoying working with our new Chancellor, Alex Cartwright. Public research universities are critical to this nation’s future, and I value being part of a senior leadership team in higher education at such an important time."

The inclusion of Stokes on the finalist list shows the strength of the leadership team at MU, Cartwright said in a prepared statement.

"Dr. Stokes has been instrumental in hiring many of our new leaders who are dedicated to our students and doing an excellent job across our campus," Cartwright said. "I have and continue to value her leadership and input in the short time that I have been here at Mizzou."

Before coming to Missouri, Stokes was provost at Florida State University for four years. She was also that university’s interim president during 2014. Stokes was one of several candidates competing for the FSU presidency.

Before Florida State, Stokes was dean of the University of Georgia College of Arts and Sciences for seven years.

The University of New Mexico is a six-campus system that operates on a $3 billion budget. It has 26,278 students enrolled on the Albuquerque campus and 6,710 enrolled on branch campuses.

Unlike recent presidential and chancellor searches at the University of Missouri, New Mexico law and UNM policy mandate that the finalists be made public and that they visit the campus for public forums before a final selection is made. The list from the search committee is not ranked by preference.

“We are extremely pleased to have engaged these five very accomplished finalists who seek to be the next president of UNM,” Board of Regents President and Search Committee Chair Rob Doughty said in the news release.

The final selection will be made after the last campus visit, scheduled for Oct. 24.

rkeller@columbiatribune.com

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