Dr. Elson S. Floyd, president of the University of Missouri, has appointed a 20-member search committee to assist him in finding a new chancellor for the University of Missouri-Rolla. Dr. Gary Thomas, chancellor at UMR since September 2000, has announced his intention to retire Aug. 31, 2005.

Dr. Larry Gragg, UMR Distinguished Teaching Professor and chair of history and political science, will chair the search committee. A higher education placement firm will be retained to assist the committee with the national search. The UMR search committee will review qualified applicants and recommend finalists to Floyd. Floyd will appoint the new chancellor with the concurrence of the UM Board of Curators.

Members of the committee include: Dr. Craig Adams, John and Susan Mathes Missouri Professor of Environmental Engineering at UMR and director of the UMR Environmental Research Center; Dr. Richard K. Brow, professor and chair of materials science and engineering at UMR; Dr. Carl Burns, director of counseling and academic support programs; Dr. Harvest Collier, professor of chemistry at UMR and vice provost for graduate and undergraduate studies; Connie Eggert, UMR vice chancellor of university advancement; Jennifer Fry, chair of the UMR Staff Council and an environmental specialist in the evironmental health and safety department at UMR; Dr. Jerry Giger, associate superintendent for curriculum of Rolla Public Schools; Jay Goff, UMR dean of enrollment management; Dr. Richard Hall, associate dean of the UMR School of Management and Information Systems and associate professor of information science and technology; Larry Hendren, president-elect of the MSM-UMR Alumni Association and president of Engineering Surveys and Services, Columbia, Mo.; Dr. Michael G. Hilgers, president of the UMR Academic Council and associate professor of computer science; Dr. Paula M. Lutz, dean of the UMR College of Arts and Sciences; John Mathes, a member of the UMR Board of Trustees and curator emeritus of the University of Missouri; Dr. Melanie Mormile, associate professor of biological sciences at UMR; Marvin Patton, director of physical facilities; Dr. E. Keith Stanek, chair and professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMR; Laura Stoll, UMR registrar; Julia Rosemann, UMR Student Council president; and Prasenjit Shil, UMR Council of Graduate Students president.

"This is a well-qualified and broadly representative panel," Floyd said. "Its members are vitally interested in the future of UMR as a nationally known research institution and Missouri’s technological university. I appreciate their willingness to assume this important responsibility."

Floyd encouraged persons with an interest in the position of chancellor or in nominating others for the position to contact him or Gragg.