Peter Rabideau, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is officially leaving Iowa State.

Rabideau accepted the position of provost and vice president of academic affairs at Mississippi State, where he will assume his duties no later than Sept. 1.

Four applicants publicly interviewed on the Mississippi State campus, said Joe Farris, director of university relations for Mississippi State.

An interim provost has been serving Mississippi State since Jan. 1, 2002, before which both the president and provost of Mississippi State left, Farris said. The search for a permanent provost began in the summer or fall of 2002.

“It’s an opportunity to be more involved administratively,” Rabideau said. “The position is campus-wide administration; it’s an administration promotion.”

According to the Mississippi Board of Trustees agenda item, Rabideau was offered a 12—month salary of $205,000. Currently Rabideau’s salary is $169,744 annually at Iowa State.

Ben Allen, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Iowa State, makes $215,000 annually.

“[Mississippi State] president Dr. [J. Charles] Lee made a comment in announcing the appointment that one, he was an outstanding scholar,” Farris said. “Two, he has had experience at two land grant universities, and three, Dr. Rabideau has a record of getting things done.”

Lee could not be reached for comment.

Rabideau said the biggest challenge the new LAS dean at Iowa State will encounter stems from budget cuts.

“Recently we’ve been dealing with difficult budget situations, which makes the job even more challenging,” he said.

The variety of programs in LAS will also be a challenge for the new dean, Rabideau said.

“[The new dean will also] have to do his or her best to get to know all the programs and disciplines within the college,” Rabideau said. “I think there’s a significant difference between the humanities and the sciences, so there’s a learning curve to get up to speed and be as effective as you can be with all the units.”

Mississippi State currently enrolls over 16,600 students and employs more than 930 full-time faculty members.