President Martin Jischke is expected to be named the new president of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., at a 11 a.m. press conference today.

He will replace Steven C. Beering, 67, and become the 10th president in Purdue history.

Rumors of Jischke’s selection as the next president of Purdue have been circulating since Thursday.

Joe Bennett, vice president for University Relations at Purdue, said the school’s new president has already been selected and will be announced at the press conference.

Bennett would not confirm whether Jischke will be named as Purdue’s succeeding president.

“Dr. Jischke is one of the finalists,” he said. “We had a list of about five finalists.”

Iowa Board of Regents member Clarkson Kelly said Jischke will be attending the press conference in Purdue.

“I was told he is going to be at the press conference,” Kelly said. “I think it’s almost certain [Jischke will be named Purdue’s next president]. He will have to announce it himself that he’s leaving. If that’s the case, I think he’d probably be at Purdue before they start their fall semester.”

The regents will hold a meeting later this week to discuss appointing an interim president, he said. The meeting is expected to be closed to outside parties.

“We’ve talked briefly that we’ll have to select [an interim president],” Kelly said. “As soon as Dr. Jischke makes his announcement, we’ll have a meeting and appoint the temporary, and then we’ll start a search for a new president. And I’m quite sure the individual who is selected to be temporary president would not be a candidate for the presidency.”

Kelly confirmed that he sent Jischke a message stating, “I don’t think I can live without you.”

“I feel so strongly about him. He’s been such a wonderful, wonderful president,” he said. “Sometimes I think I don’t know how I can get along with out him.”

Frank Stork, executive director of the Board of Regents, said he does not know whom Purdue will name as president at its press conference.

“We have not gotten an independent confirmation of what that announcement will be,” he said.

If Jischke is named the next Purdue president, a campus search committee composed of ISU faculty and staff, plus a few other individuals will be appointed to come up with a list of names of possible interim presidents.

“I’m not sure who the board will look at. They probably would be looking at someone who is at Iowa State University,” Stork said.

The search will take from a few months up to a year, he said.

Jorgen Rasmussen, distinguished professor of political science, was one of the faculty members behind the petition asking the regents to evaluate Jischke, charging that his administration had created a “climate of fear and repression.”

Jischke’s apparent departure for Purdue should be positive news for Iowa State, he said.

“I think the overall impact [of Jischke’s presidency] has been negative, and the university would be better with someone else as the president,” Rasmussen said. “One would prefer that he would change his policies, but I don’t see that as being likely to happen and therefore, his departure to Purdue, I think, would be in the interest of Iowa State.”

Ben Golding, Government of the Student Body president, said Jischke’s probable departure came as a big surprise to him when he heard last week’s rumors.

“I don’t know exactly what to say. It’s quite surprising for everyone at Iowa State,” said Golding, senior in construction engineering. “I don’t think anybody really knew until last week.”

Jischke implied to him Monday that he will be going to Purdue, he said.

“I talked to Jischke about it, and he did kind of hinted at what’s going on,” Golding said.

Student reaction to Jischke’s departure will be mixed, he said.

“I think for the most part people will just be excited about the change,” Golding said.

Although not everybody liked Jischke, he was a good president, Golding said.

“There’s been a lot of turmoil and there’s been a lot of discontent, but I believe Jischke has done a lot of good for the university,” he said.

Live streaming audio of the press conference can be obtained beginning at 10:45 a.m. at www.dis.purdue.edu/wbaa/listen/index.cfm. Windows Media Player is needed to listen to the conference. The program can be downloaded from Microsoft.