Carr, Geisinger named finalists to lead graduate education

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Carr, Geisinger named finalists to lead graduate education

Nebraska's (from left) Tim Carr and Kurt Geisinger have been named finalists for associate vice chancellor and dean of graduate education.
Nebraska's (from left) Tim Carr and Kurt Geisinger have been named finalists for associate vice chancellor and dean of graduate education.

After an internal search, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln will interview two finalists for associate vice chancellor and dean of graduate education. The announcement was made April 27 by Donde Plowman, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer.

Finalists Tim Carr and Kurt Geisinger will meet with the search committee, administrators, representatives of the faculty senate, graduate studies staff and students. Geisinger will interview May 8 and Carr on May 9. The interviews do not include public presentations.

The associate vice chancellor and dean of graduate education is the university’s chief academic and administrative officer for graduate education. The position is responsible for leading and coordinating all aspects of graduate education and working with graduate programs to implement policies that support recruitment, academic achievement and resourcing of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

The position reports directly to the executive vice chancellor. It is a 12-month position that includes oversight of Nebraska’s offices of graduate and postdoctoral studies.

Carr is the Jean Sundell Tintsman Professor of Nutrition and Health Sciences and interim associate vice chancellor and dean of graduate education. He has recently served as the department chair of nutrition and health sciences and was acting associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Education and Human Sciences.

A faculty member at Nebraska since 1996, Carr previously held faculty appointments at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Minnesota.

Carr earned a master’s in food science and doctorate in nutritional sciences from the University of Arizona. His research focuses on cholesterol transport in the body and how dietary factors influence cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. He has published over 60 research articles, three textbooks, nine book chapters for textbooks, and numerous magazine and newspaper articles on diet and health issues.

He has received several research and teaching awards, including the Donald and Mary Lee Swanson Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2004 and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education in 2010. He has been a consultant to the World Health Organization and private industry, and is on the editorial boards for two professional journals.

Feedback on Carr’s application for the associate vice chancellor position should be submitted online by 5 p.m. May 10.

Geisinger is the W.S. Meierhenry Professor of Educational Psychology and director of the Buros Center for Testing. He has served as director of the Buros Center since 2006. His prior administrative appointments include serving as vice president for academic affairs at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, from 2001 to 2006; academic vice president at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, from 1997 to 2001; and dean of arts and sciences at the State University of New York, College at Oswego, from 1992 to 1997.

Geisinger also served as chair of psychology and director of the doctoral program in psychometrics at Fordham University.

While overseeing the testing work at the Buros Center, Geisinger successes have included: organizing the first strategic plan in the center’s history; developing a new international vision for the center; publishing an index of Spanish tests, the first such document ever; establishing a leadership team within the center; and drawing approximately $400,000 in annual contract research.

Geisinger has worked as a consultant for multiple organizations and institutions, including King Fahd University in Saudi Arabia, New York State Department of Education and University of Luxembourg. He served as an expert witness with the New York City Department of Law in cases defending city personnel examinations. Geisinger is also an active member of many professional associations, including the American Association for Higher Education, American Psychological Association and National Council on Measurement in Education.

Feedback on Geisinger’s application for the associate vice chancellor position should be submitted online by 5 p.m. May 10.

The search for Nebraska’s next associate vice chancellor has been led by a 10-member committee that includes faculty, staff and students. The committee chair is Katherine Ankerson, dean of architecture and professor of interior design.

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