BEMIDJI, Minn. (April 6, 2010) — Dr. Linda T. Krug, on sabbatical after an 11-year tenure as dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and Dr. Richard A. Hanson, interim president at North Dakota State University, have been announced as the first two semifinalists for the presidency at Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College.

The University will announce additional semifinalists for the position shortly.

Krug’s on-campus interview is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, April 8-9. Hanson will be on campus Thursday and Friday, April 22-23. Both candidates will participate in a public forum entitled “Higher Education at a Crossroads” during the first day of their visit. The candidates will offer a 20-minute presentation and then be available for a question-and-answer session. The forums will be held from 2:15-3:00 p.m. in Bridgeman Hall 100 on the Bemidji State campus.

• Dr. Linda Krug
Dr. Linda Krug is currently on sabbatical after an 11-year tenure as dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Krug has been with the University of Minnesota, Duluth, since 1986, when she joined the faculty as an instructor in UMD’s Department of Communication. She began her administrative career in 1992 when she was named chair of UMD’s Department of Women’s Studies. In 1996, she was named chair of the Department of Communication, and in 1998 she was named dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Krug also served two terms as interim director of UMD’s International Education Office and was director of the school’s interdisciplinary studies program from 1998-2003.

Krug earned her bachelor’s degree in speech communication in 1980 and master’s degree in rhetoric in 1981, both from the University of Miami (Ohio). She earned her doctorate in socio-political influence of language at the University of Nebraska in 1987.

• Dr. Richard Hanson
Dr. Richard Hanson has been interim president at North Dakota State University since Dec. 1, 2009. Previously, he served as president of Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa, from 2005-09. Hanson began his career in higher education at California State University-Chico in 1974, where he served as chair of the department of home economics from 1979-80. In 1980, he returned to his alma mater, North Dakota State University. At NDSU, he was named chair of the child development and family science department in 1983, and from 1992-95 he served as associate vice president for academic affairs. After leaving NDSU in 1995, Hanson spent 10 years as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., before taking the presidency at Waldorf College in 2005.

Hanson earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1971 and his master’s in child development and family relations in 1974, both from North Dakota State University. He earned a doctorate in applied behavioral science at the University of California-Davis in 1980.

For information on the Bemidji State University/Northwest Technical College presidential search, please visit http://www.bemidjistate.edu/president_search.