Friday, May 19, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.
The wisdom of whittling down candidates for university presidencies to three finalists was proved this week at UNLV. When Lt. Gen. Bill Lennox, superintendent of West Point, declined an offer from the Board of Regents, two equally qualified candidates were at the ready. Of those, the regents chose David Ashley to be UNLV's next president.
An option to conduct another national search was available to the regents, but they sensibly decided to choose one of the other candidates who had already impressed them enough to become finalists.
Ashley's credentials are impeccable. Since 2001, as executive vice president and chancellor, he has been helping to build the new University of California academic and research campus at Merced.
He went there from Ohio State University, where he was dean of engineering. He also served four years as chairman of the school of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned a doctorate in civil engineering from Stanford University after earning a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master's degrees from both MIT and Stanford.
Among the challenges facing Ashley, who begins work July 1, is fundraising and student recruitment. Facing a lower-than-expected enrollment in the fall, UNLV could lose millions in state funding over the next two years. Ashley must also help the university continue its climb toward becoming nationally known for its research, while at the same time enhancing its academic reputation. He must partner with the Community College of Southern Nevada and the Clark County School District so that students aspiring to four-year degrees are academically ready.
We believe the quality of the candidates who applied for the top job at UNLV shows the promise that the university holds. We also believe that Ashley has the potential to fulfill that promise.
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