GSU finalists carry strong research credentials
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The weighty credentials of the two finalists read more like those of a candidate for top job at a prominent medical institution.
Instead the two are vying for the top spot at Georgia State University, Georgia’s largest urban research university.
On one CV: Adjunct professorship of pediatrics and orthopedics, expert on Medicaid and HMOs.
On the other: Consultant to the World Health Organization and author of a book on cancer epidemiology.
Academics Deborah Freund, an expert on health care, and Harris Pastides, an epidemiologist, compose the short list of candidates to replace GSU’s retiring leader, Carl Patton, who plans to leave office at the end of this month.
Both candidates have extensive experience in medical fields and both have been considered for college presidencies in the past.
The selection of finalists with such strong research portfolios was no accident, said Susan Herbst, the vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University System of Georgia, which oversees GSU and the 34 other public institutions in the state.
During Patton’s 16 years at the Georgia State helm, the onetime commuter school evolved into a destination university for undergraduates and graduate students, becoming a more traditional college campus with on-campus housing and, soon, even its own Division 1 football team. GSU is now looking to “move to the next level” in research, Herbst said.
The two candidates were pared from dozens of names in a monthslong process that isn’t over.
The search was narrowed to two after finalist Guy Bailey, the chancellor of the University of Missouri at Kansas city, pulled out late last week.
Regents policy requires that finalists be named 14 days before board members choose a new president — but there’s no rule governing how long the process can go past two weeks.

ajc.com