Atlanta — February 2, 2006

Regent Michael Coles, chair of the Special Regents’ Committee for the presidential search at Kennesaw State University (KSU), and University System of Georgia Interim Chancellor Corlis P. Cummings today announced the names of the three finalists for the KSU presidency.

The finalists, all with extensive backgrounds in higher education administration at the senior executive level, are candidates to replace outgoing KSU President Betty L. Siegel who has led KSU for nearly 25 years.

“We have a very strong group of finalists for this presidency,” Chancellor Cummings stated. “I feel very confident of each candidate’s ability to continue leading Kennesaw State on its remarkable trajectory of the past 43 years.”

Regent Coles said, “We are very pleased with the finalists we are recommending to the full Board of Regents. Each one of them is well qualified to continue building Kennesaw State’s national preeminence.”

The finalists, in alphabetical order, are as follows:

Dr. John M. Dunn, provost and vice chancellor at Southern Illinois University (SIUC), in Carbondale, Ill. Dunn, who has held the number-two position at SIUC since 2002, has held senior administrative positions at three different institutions. He previously served as dean of the College of Health at the University of Utah from 1995 to 2002. He also was a professor of exercise and sport science during this period.

Before joining the Utah faculty, Dunn served as associate provost for academic affairs and professor of exercise and sport science at Oregon State University (OSU), from 1990 to 1995. Dunn was a member of the OSU faculty from 1975 to 1995. He held the position of assistant dean of research and graduate studies for the College of Health and Human Performance from 1987 to 1990, and chair of the Department of Physical Education from 1981 to 1987. Dunn joined the OSU faculty in 1975 as an associate professor of physical education and assistant to the vice president for research and graduate studies.

Dunn was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education in 1995 and served as the academy’s secretary (2002-2004) and member of the executive committee from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, he was named a fellow of the North American Society of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance Professionals and as a Distinguished Scholar of the National Association for Physical Education in Higher Education. He is well published in the area of health and physical activity for children with disabilities.

Dunn holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb, Ill.; and a doctoral degree in education from Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah. He also completed post-doctoral studies at Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pa.

Dr. Timothy S. Mescon dean of the Michael J. Coles College of Business and the Tony and Jack Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Entrepreneurial Management at Kennesaw State University. Mescon has served as KSU’s business dean for more than 15 years, significantly raising the profile of the Coles College during his tenure. KSU’s executive MBA program is one of the largest in the nation and has received two Top 10 rankings in Business Week. The Coles College now is the largest graduate-program provider to the BellSouth Corporation. The Coles College awards more than 35 percent of all KSU degrees.

Mescon previously served as founding dean of the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University, in Maryland; and as assistant dean for undergraduate studies at the University of Miami (Fla.) School of Business Administration. Before his appointment in Florida, he was a member of the faculty of Arizona State University. Mescon has served as a visiting lecturer at Nanjing University in China, the University of Aston in England and as a Visiting Fellow at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

He has coauthored six books on management – several with his father, Michael H. Mescon, the retired dean of Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business. He also is a columnist for AirTran Airlines’ in-flight magazine, GO. He serves as a commissioner on the City of Atlanta Homeless Commission and on the state’s Workforce Development Commission.

Mescon holds a Ph.D. in strategic management and entrepreneurship from the University of Georgia, an MBA from Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas; and an undergraduate degree from Tulane University, in New Orleans.

Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for academics and fiscal affairs for the University System of Georgia. Papp, who was named to his current position in 2000, served as interim president of Southern Polytechnic State University from 1997 to 1998, and executive assistant to the president at Georgia Tech from 1994 to 1997. Immediately before his University System Office appointment, Papp coordinated the participation of eight University System of Georgia institutions in Yamacraw, an initiative aimed at helping Georgia become a world leader in broadband technology.

Papp, an international affairs expert, was the founding director of Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, from 1990 to 19993; and director of Georgia Tech’s School of Social Sciences, from 1980 to 1990. He joined the Georgia Tech faculty as an assistant professor of international affairs in 1973. Papp also has held visiting and research professor positions at Fudan University, in Shanghai, China; the Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education at the U.S. Air War College, in Montgomery, Ala.; the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College, in Carlisle, Pa.; and the Western Australia Institute of Technology, in Perth, Australia.

Papp’s academic specialties include international security policy, U.S. and Russian foreign and defense policies, and the impact of information and communications technologies on national security and international affairs. He is the author of four books on these topics.

Papp holds a Ph.D. in international affairs from the University of Miami and an undergraduate degree in the same discipline from Dartmouth College.

The Board of Regents will conduct a special meeting later this month to name the next president of Kennesaw State University. The date of the meeting will be announced next week.

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