Three candidates recommended for UW-Madison provost

A 15-member search-and-screen committee has recommended to Chancellor Biddy Martin three candidates for the university’s next provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

They are:

• Paul M. DeLuca Jr., vice dean and associate dean for research and graduate studies at the UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
• Irwin L. Goldman, vice dean and associate dean for research in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW–Madison; and
• Richard L. Moss, chair of the Department of Physiology in the UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.

“I feel that our process produced three outstanding and experienced candidates who thoroughly understand and appreciate the mission of UW–Madison and the challenges and opportunities we confront,” says David McDonald, professor and chair of the Department of History and chair of the search-and-screen committee.

As the chief academic officer, the provost helps steer the institution’s long-term academic direction through close collaboration with the deans of UW–Madison’s 12 schools and colleges. The provost is also responsible for faculty and staff development, diversity initiatives and enrollment management, and is the point person for shared governance. The provost acts as chief executive officer of the university in the chancellor’s absence.

DeLuca joined the faculty at UW–Madison in 1975 in the Department of Radiology. DeLuca is an internationally recognized expert in high-energy particle radiation effects on humans. He served as vice chair of the Department of Medical Physics from 1982-87, as chair from 1987-98, and helped lead its growth from a small group of faculty into one of the medical school’s largest basic science departments. In 1999, he was named associate dean at the school; the title of vice dean was added in 2001. In that role, he was closely involved with the development of the Wisconsin Institutes of Medical Research. He also holds a faculty appointment in engineering physics.

DeLuca earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics at Le Moyne College and his doctorate in nuclear physics at the University of Notre Dame.

Goldman has been on the UW–Madison faculty since 1992, when he joined the Department of Horticulture. His research examines the intersection of plant breeding, plant genetics and human health, to improve crops for health and nutrition. He chaired the plant breeding and plant genetics graduate program from 2002-05. From 2004-2006, Goldman served in several interim roles as assistant dean, associate dean and executive associate dean, and was named as associate dean for research and vice dean in 2006. In that role, he was heavily involved with the 2007 launch of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, a $130 million center funded by the federal government.

Goldman earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences at the University of Illinois, a master’s in crop science at North Carolina State University and a doctorate in plant breeding and plant genetics from UW–Madison.

Moss joined the university’s Department of Physiology faculty in 1979 and has served as department chair since 1988. Moss has been involved with initiatives that improved the breadth and quality of the department’s work, faculty recruitment and retention efforts, and the merger of the departments of Physiology and Neurophysiology. Moss researches functional abnormalities in heart disease at the molecular, cellular and systems levels. He is a past winner of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Since 1997, he has directed the University of Wisconsin Cardiovascular Research Center, where he leads outreach and development efforts and oversees cross-campus research and training programs in cardiovascular sciences. He has been executive director of the Master’s in Biotechnology Training Program since 2000.

Moss earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at UW-Oshkosh and a doctorate in physiology and biophysics at the University of Vermont.

Interviews will be completed by early June and will involve the chancellor, a number of top campus administrators, representatives of shared governance groups, and officials representing campus partners such as the Wisconsin Alumni Association, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the UW Foundation.

Each of the candidates will give a public presentation. Details of those sessions will be announced later.