N.M. university chief in lead for LSU post

• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: May 16, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LSU could have its new chancellor in New Mexico State University President Michael V. Martin.

The 61-year-old agriculture economist is the sole finalist invited to campus Tuesday and Wednesday for public interviews and forums, the LSU chancellor search committee decided Thursday.

Chairman Jack Hamilton said the search committee will decide May 23 whether to recommend to the LSU Board of Supervisors to hire Martin as the leader of the main LSU campus in Baton Rouge.

“He would be a very strong leader for our campus,” said Hamilton, who is dean of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication. “He’s worthy of this place, and I hope he decides to come. I also hope the committee decides to pick him.”

On the surface, the decision to bring in only Martin resembles the secretive searches used to hire LSU System President John Lombardi last year and former Chancellor Sean O’Keefe, whom Martin would replace.

Before Martin became president of New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M., in 2004, he was hired by Lombardi in 1998 as the University of Florida senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources.

Lombardi was the Florida president at the time.

“We overlapped there for a few years,” Lombardi said.

“He was quite good there.”

Although Lombardi had hoped for about three finalists to visit campus, Lombardi said he and the search committee decided they could not attract enough top applicants by bringing in several finalists to compete with each other.

Sitting presidents and chancellors are unwilling to risk their current jobs, he said.

“We wish it were open and everyone could have open applications and it wouldn’t make a difference at home,” Lombardi said. “But it does make a difference at home.”

When reached for comment Thursday afternoon, Martin said LSU may be too good an opportunity to pass up if he is offered the job.