A finalist for the position of dean of the ISU College of Agriculture will be on campus early next week to meet with ISU students and faculty members.

Andrew Novakovic is the first finalist to emerge since an ISU committee extended its search for the new dean in January.

Former Dean David Topel stepped down from the position in February to go back to teaching, and Richard Ross, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, has been acting as interim dean of the College of Agriculture.

Novakovic is an endowed professor and chairman of the agricultural economics department at Cornell University, a land-grant institution in Ithaca, N.Y. He will be visiting Iowa State June 19 and 20.

“I’m interested in being someplace that values both education and agriculture,” he said.

Novakovic said the role of agriculture dean is important to many people in Iowa.

“I’m very interested in agriculture,” he said.

“I’ve never lived in Iowa, but I’m keenly interested in agriculture and higher education.”

Novakovic said the position he is looking to fill “has the perfect blend of authoritative power, but isn’t too far removed from students or faculty.”

Provost Rollin Richmond said finding Novakovic was the result of hard work by search committee members.

“Our process is to travel around the country and interview the best people in agriculture we could find,” Richmond said.

He said after finding the best possible candidates for the position, the committee’s next move is to invite them to visit Ames.

“It gives people a chance to meet and to evaluate whether or not we’ve identified the right person,” Richmond said.

He said none of the finalists named in January are being considered for the position of dean, and while there are other candidates the search committee is considering, Novakovic is the only one who will be visiting the ISU campus as of now.

Richmond said he encourages comments and suggestions from students about Novakovic and any other candidates the search committee considers.

“Anyone can relay their assessment of Dr. Novakovic to me or my office,” he said.

He said he hopes the search will end sometime by the end of the summer.

“We should have a new dean on campus by this fall,” Richmond said.

Novakovic’s open forum is scheduled for June 19 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 1204 of Kildee Hall. Novakovic said he wants to discuss the role of dean and how it relates to the state of Iowa, how the role of dean relates to on-campus programs and why he is interested in being the new agriculture dean at Iowa State.