AMES, Iowa -- A 15-member search committee led by Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Michael Whiteford has identified four dean finalists for the new College of Human Sciences at Iowa State.
The first two of four candidates will visit the Iowa State University campus next week. They are:
- Pamela White, interim dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and University Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition, at Iowa State. White will interview April 26-27.
- Marlene Strathe, provost and senior vice president, and professor, School of Educational Studies, at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. Strathe will interview April 28-29.
An open forum with the candidates will be held in the Memorial Union on the first day of their visits. A diversity forum will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. in 302 Catt Hall on the second day. (See forum schedule at right.)
The remaining two candidates will be announced in conjunction with their visits to campus during the week of May 2.
"Given the exceptionally strong pool of candidates, it's clear that this job is viewed as one in which a good leader will have an opportunity to be part of an exciting new chapter in Iowa State's history," Whiteford said.
The successful candidate will become inaugural dean of the College of Human Sciences. The college will be founded July 1, bringing together the departments and programs formerly housed in the colleges of Education and Family and Consumer Sciences.
Strathe has been provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Oklahoma State University since 2003. From 1998 to 2003, Strathe was provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. She also has been vice president for academic affairs and provost (1993 to 1998) at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks; and assistant vice president of academic affairs (1988 to 1993) at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. Previously, Strathe served on the faculty at UNI from 1969 to 1993. Strathe began her career in higher education (while still a student) as an assistant to the dean of students at Iowa State from 1967 to 1969.
Her research interests include academic administration, special vocational needs education and teacher education and preparation.
Strathe earned bachelor's degrees in government and bacteriology (1967) and a master's in psychology/counseling and higher education (1969) from Iowa State. She received an education specialist degree in educational psychology/evaluation from the University of Northern Iowa in 1973. She received a doctorate in education/research and evaluation from Iowa State in 1975.
White joined the Iowa State University faculty in 1975. Over the past 30 years, she has been an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor and interim chair of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. She also has been interim co-director of the Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition. White received the designation of University Professor in 2001, and has led the College of Family and Consumer Sciences as interim dean since July 2003. From 1972 to 1975, White worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Washington, Seattle, and as a frozen food technologist at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle.
Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of lipids and carbohydrates, including lipids oxidization, antioxidants (especially from oats), and crop development to produce oils with valuable fatty acid composition and starch with valuable functional properties, such as increased dietary fiber.
White earned a bachelor's degree (summa cum laude) in experimental foods and nutritional sciences from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1972; a master's in food science from the University of Washington in 1974; and a doctorate in food technology from Iowa State in 1981.
Complete vitae are available online at: http://www.provost.iastate.edu/positions/.