AUDREY REED
News Editor
Dean Linda Livingstone of the Graziadio School of Business and Management has been reported to be one of two finalists for the position of Baylor University president in Waco, Texas.
Baylor officials would not confirm any of the candidates, and Pepperdine’s Public Relations office said on behalf of the business school dean that “Baylor is restricting DeanLivingstone from making any comments regarding this.”
Area newspapers and television stations, such as the Dallas Morning News and Baylor campus paper the Lariat, have all named Livingstone and the interim president, Bill Underwood, as the finalists based on interviews with anonymous sources.
According to Baylor’s Web site, the Board of Regents announced Sept. 9 that it was extending its search for the university presidency after Underwood said that he did not want to be considered for the position.
The Dallas Morning News reports that Regents Chairman Will Davis said that Underwood’s decision “changed the dynamics,” which caused the regents to extend the search.
The presidential search began last February when former president Robert Sloan stepped down.
Livingstone worked at Baylor as the former associate dean of Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business until 2002 when she came to Pepperdine. She was the first female dean of the business school at Pepperdine and oversaw the $200 million expansion of the Graziadio School graduate campus.
Livingstone is not the only Pepperdine employee who was considered. School of Law professor Bob Cochran was also nominated. Cochran said he filled an application that was sent to him but has not had an interview.
He said that if Livingstone is chosen, she will do a good job.
“I have been with Linda in many social and business situations. She is wise, poised, articulate and thoughtful,” Cochran said.
In 2002, Baylor, under Sloan’s leadership, unveiled its plan to become a top-tier school in 10 years. The plan calls for more research, new facilities and a renewed sense of its Baptist heritage.
“The new president will need to bring a divided faculty together in support of a common mission,” Cochran said. “Baylor has served a tremendous leadership role within the state of Texas, but it should assume a national leadership role. It has the potential to be the leading seriously-Christian Protestant research university in the nation.”
09-15-2005