University of Wyoming president job draws over 60 applicants

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - More than 60 people have applied to become the next president of the University of Wyoming.

University trustees plan to choose a new president in the next month to succeed Laurie Nichols, whose contract they chose not to renew in 2019.

"I was personally surprised by both the number and quality of the applicants," former trustee John MacPherson, who is running a search committee, said in a release. "They truly represent a diversified group with varying backgrounds and experiences."

The committee plans to divide the 60 applicants into three groups: those to be interviewed, those meriting more discussion and those out of the running. The 60 names will be confidential.

Video interviews with 10 candidates will begin next week, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.

The Board of Trustees plans to conduct off-campus interviews with six semifinalists starting Feb. 12. Roughly three finalists who will be publicly identified will then go to campus for additional interviews Feb. 27.

The board may extend an offer in early March and the new president would begin at the start of the state fiscal year July 1.

The contract of acting President Neil Theobald, who is applying for the president job, expires then.