Candidates for the University of Nevada’s next president were announced today in an agenda for the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Sept. 16 and 17 Board of Regents meeting.
The finalists are Chaden Djalali, executive vice president and provost of Ohio University; Jennifer Evans-Cowley, provost and vice president of academic affairs at the University of North Texas; Jonathan Koppell, dean of Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service; and former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval.
Sandoval said he has been communicating and meeting with a number of UNR deans, faculty members, students and administrators in advance of the selection for the position.
He is the lone candidate with limited higher education administrative experience. He serves as a fellow at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law and at USC’s Center on Communications Leadership and Policy. He most recently was president of global gaming development for MGM Resorts.
“I fully understand that I am not a traditional candidate to lead an academic institution,” he said.
Djalali has been at Ohio University since 2018. Prior to that, he was a dean at the University of Iowa. He was previously a professor of physics and astronomy.
Evans-Cowley holds a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M and has been with the University of North Texas since 2017. Prior to that, she was at Ohio State University from 2001 to 2017, serving in various capacities.
Koppell has been at ASU since 2010; before that, he was at Yale University. He has a doctorate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Candidates are scheduled for campus visits Sept. 14 and 15 before the final selection by NSHE regents Sept. 17.
