The new director of ISU Dining was announced Monday afternoon.

Nancy Levandowski, a business consultant from California, will be taking over the position on Nov. 1.

Todd Holcomb, associate vice president for student affairs, has served as interim director of ISU Dining after Jon Lewis left the position in January to take a job offer at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

“We worked with Global Hospitality, a national search firm,” Holcomb said. “We worked with the consultant, did phone interviews and invited the candidates to campus.”

This was the second go around; the first one didn’t yield a new director, Holcomb said.

The second search came up with approximately 26 candidates, from which the university narrowed the list down, said Thomas Hill, vice president for student affairs.

“She has good experience all around: She has been a contractor, a self-operator and a consultant. She has seen the higher education food industry from all different views,” Hill said. “She has seen every angle of the food business and has been successful in all of those roles.”

Holcomb agrees on Levandowski’s qualification for the position.

“She is a good fit [for the job],” Holcomb said. “We are excited to have her and are looking forward to welcoming her to campus.”

Levandowski said she is excited to take over her new role next month.

“There are a couple of things that I am really looking at: First and foremost is being a leader to our team,” Levandowski said.

The team did an excellent job dealing with the bid to win the dining services contract last spring, and now we need a leader to follow through with it, Levandowski said.

“The plan [from the bid] is for five years, and we need someone to lead through completing the plan and keeping our commitment to campus,” Levandowski said. “We have a lot of things to do.”