The recruitment of a new provost and executive vice chancellor is advancing to the public forum stage.

The forums — three are scheduled so far: Oct. 1, 4 and 6 — follow on the heels of two forums held in mid-September for the position of vice chancellor in charge of research. A forum for a third candidate for research vice chancellor had been tentatively scheduled for today (Sept. 24), but it has been called off.

The new provost and executive vice chancellor will replace Enrique Lavernia, who has held the office since early 2009. He is staying on as provost until his successor comes on board; at that time, Lavernia will return to his post as dean of the College of Engineering.

The new research vice chancellor will replace Barry Klein, who is stepping down after nine years in the position.

The Board of Regents last week appointed Professor Emeritus Charley Hess to serve as interim vice chancellor of research. Klein, meanwhile, plans to take an earned year of paid administrative leave, to help prepare himself for his return to a faculty position in the Department of Physics. Also during his year of administrative leave, Klein will be directing the McClellan Nuclear Radiation Center.

Here are latest details regarding both recruitments:

Provost and executive vice chancellor

The recruitment advisory committee has arranged public forums for three candidates, each of whom will be identified, with his or her curriculum vitae, the day before his or her forum. Look for the CVs here.

Each forum is scheduled from 2 to 3:15 p.m., but at two different locations:

• Oct. 1 — Conference room, Hyatt Place UC Davis hotel, on Old Davis Road Extension, at the south edge of the main campus

• Oct. 4 and 6 — Ballroom A, UC Davis Conference Center, next to the Graduate School of Management, across from the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

A forum for a possible fourth candidate is tentatively scheduled from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Oct. 8 in Ballroom A at the UC Davis Conference Center.

The protocol is the same for each forum. Each candidate has been asked to make a 10-minute presentation on “The Future of the Public Research University." This will be followed by a facilitated question-and-answer session, and then a reception.

The candidates, during their visits, also are scheduled to meet with the leaders of varioius constituent groups on the Davis and Sacramento campuses.

People wishing to submit confidential comments regarding the candidates may do so by writing to provostsearch@ucdavis.edu. Comments on each particular candidate should be sent no more than 48 hours following his or her forum time.

Research vice chancellor

The recruitment advisory committee for this position has held two forums so far, and a third had been tentatively scheduled for today (Sept. 24).

Assistant Executive Vice Chancellor Robert Loessberg-Zahl announced earlier this week that the unidentified candidate "is not able to visit the campus this Friday, Sept. 24, as we had hoped."

Loessberg-Zahl said Chancellor Linda Katehi is now considering the advice of the search committee and the broader campus community about Lewin and Goldstein, "and will determine on that basis how to proceed."

Here is more information on the two candidates who have been publicly named:

• Harris A. Lewin — University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: research professor in the Microelectronics Laboratory; professor of immunogenetics (Gutgsell endowed chair), Department of Animal Sciences; founding director of the Institute for Genomic Biology; affiliate of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory; and professor in the Center for Advanced Study.

Lewin is a leader of an international effort to sequence the cattle genome and determine the origin, evolution and function of cattle genes. He was the founding director of the W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics, a nationally recognized facility that conducts genome research on microbes, plants and animals; and he is a former director of the Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Lewin, who has a doctorate in immunology from UC Davis, participated in a campus forum Sept. 15.

• Steve A.N. Goldstein — University of Chicago: professor, Department of Pediatrics and Institute of Molecular Pediatric Sciences (Biophysics and Protein Dynamics section); professor, Committees of Physiology, Neurobiology, Computational Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, Molecular Medicine, Cancer Center; founding director, Institute of Molecular Pediatric Science; and executive adviser and founding co-director, Institute for Translational Medicine. In addition, he is a scientific adviser for the National Institutes of Health Nanomedicine Roadmap.

Goldstein holds a medical degree and a doctorate in molecular immunology from Harvard University. He participated in a campus forum on Sept. 17.

Written comments on Lewin and Goldstein are still being accepted by e-mail, to vcresearchsearch@ucdavis.edu.

More information on executive recruitments.