• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: May 22, 2009 - Page: 14A

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A new Pennington Biomedical Research Center executive director should be hired by year’s end with public advertising beginning in June, a search consultant said Thursday.

LSU’s Pennington search committee met with Boston-based consultant Nick Brill for the first time Thursday to discuss the plans and timelines to replace outgoing Pennington Executive Director Claude Bouchard.

The French Canadian Bouchard is stepping down after 10 years of leading Pennington. He will stay on the faculty to focus on research.

Pennington specializes in research and trials concerning health and chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

Brill said Pennington needs a “pre-eminent scientist” with both administrative and fundraising experience. That could include a top academic department chair or a section director at a premier research institute, he said.

“It (Pennington) is no longer a little entity,” Brill said. “Someone with administrative experience will have a much faster startup time.”

Both Brill and search committee chairwoman Donna Ryan, Pennington associate executive director for clinical research, said the hope is to bring in three finalists for the job around October for public interviews at the Pennington campus on Perkins Road.

Pennington has grown a lot in 20 years and is in good position to keep improving, Brill said. “This is going to be a growth opportunity for the institution and the person coming in,” Brill said. “This is not a turnaround.”

“We are at a critical mass of people, and I think things are very well organized here,” said Eric Ravussin, Pennington chief of health and performance enhancement.

Construction on a new clinical research building is under way at Pennington and the state has allocated additional dollars for future construction. But Bouchard has bemoaned that the state is planning to cut Pennington’s operating budget at the same time the campus is growing physically.

While budget cuts hurt, Ryan said, the whole country is suffering financially. So the cuts should not dramatically hamper the search process, she said.

The Brill Neumann search consulting firm specializes in higher education, medical center and research institute searches. The search firm contract is  funded by Pennington’s private, not-for-profit foundation.

Brill said there is a strong pool of talent available to attract top candidates. While someone top notch will be picked, he said, some candidates will drop out because they want to stay focused on research, do not want to move to the South or do not want to dedicate themselves to a place for five to 10 years.

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