The search for a new distinguished professor of economics and agriculture has come to a halt after the only candidate invited for an interview withdrew his name.

Jon Lauck, assistant professor at South Dakota State University, was scheduled to present a public seminar at Iowa State Sept. 16, but will not due to the withdrawal of his candidacy.

University officials require the position to be filled by someone holding both a doctorate in economics and a juris doctorate, as well as someone who has at least three to four years of experience, said Arne Hallam, chair and professor of economics and agriculture.

Lauck holds both a juris doctorate as well as a doctorate degree in history with an emphasis in economics.

Hallam said while it is possible to hold a doctorate in another field with an emphasis in economics, Lauck did not have enough of the economic background necessary for the position.

“We were comfortable bringing [Lauck] to campus,” Hallam said. “And although we’d still be interested in talking to him and hiring him, had questions about this particular job description.

“Our opinion of him did not change, but our interpretation about whether he met the requirement of the job did change.”

Neil Harl currently holds the position and is scheduled to retire Dec. 31.

Catherine Woteki, dean of the College of Agriculture, said the first search has been ended, and a second search will begin after the search process is reviewed and improved.

Woteki said Lauck did not misrepresent himself — the search committee was aware his doctorate degree was in history with an emphasis in economics.

“[Lauck and Hallam] were both concerned about the environment that surrounded the search,” Woteki said. “At the time [Lauck] was invited to come to campus it was our understanding that he met those minimum criteria — qualifications were the Ph.D. in economics and a law degree.”

Hallam said a second search will hopefully begin soon, but not before the search process is reviewed.

“We are going to discuss the way the search is conducted, composition of the search committee, how we go about handling the search and the handling of the files,” Hallam said. “We’ve had lots of problems with confidentiality. We also want to revisit qualifications [of candidates].”

Hallam said the only decisions resolved last week were ending the current search and beginning a second search.

Harl said it was indicated to him the second search will concern only law degrees and the candidate will no longer be required to hold a doctorate.

“This was in keeping commitment and not requiring a Ph.D. anymore,” Harl said.

Harl said he favors Roger Mc-Eowen, associate professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, for the position.

McEowen does not hold a doctorate, but does hold a juris doctorate. Harl and McEowen have collaborated on five publications in addition to other scholarly works.

Hallam said earlier statements indicating a doctorate would not be required on a second search were misconstrued.

“If we are unable to hire an acceptable candidate with this job description, we’ll reconsider the job description,” Hallam said. “We want a broad pool of quality candidates. [In the first search] we only ended up with five who barely met the minimum.

“To get a broad pool, we need to be broader,” he said. “Certainly [McEowen] would be considered if he met the qualifications of the new job description.”

Until a candidate is found and hired, Harl said he is still willing to stay after retirement.

“My offer is still current,” he said. “I’m still willing to bridge to a successor.”

Woteki said there are still many factors to consider.

“There’s a lot of unknowns at this point,” she said. “The thing that is known is that Dr. Harl is going to be retiring in December.

“If we’re able to identify a candidate who can reasonably start, then we may not have to have any type of interim plan.”