Familiar face under consideration for president’s post

So, who in the world is Neal Smatresk and just exactly how do you say his name?

Smatresk (it rhymes with mattress) is the higher ed chancellor's pick to become UNLV's new president. The full Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on the appointment next week.

Smatresk has been the university's executive vice president and provost since 2007. That means he has been the behind-the-scenes boss of the university, the guy who makes things run smoothly. That's a provost's job.

When regents demoted President David Ashley earlier this month, Smatresk immediately took over as acting president.

He is a biologist by trade, is 58 years old, lives in Henderson, has two grown children and has been married for 31 years.

Smatresk came to UNLV -- hired by Ashley after a national search -- from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he was the chief academic officer for three years. That appointment came after 22 years at the University of Texas, where he served as a professor, a department chairman and a dean.

Smatresk declined to be interviewed for this story. He offered, through a spokesman, only an "I am honored to have been nominated."

But it has long been speculated he would be the top pick to take over at UNLV.

He is praised, by and large, as a people person who knows the university inside and out.

"I think he'll be a source of confidence for the students," said Adam Cronis, the student body president.

John Filler, the chairman of the faculty senate, called Smatresk "a fine choice for the job."

In the two-plus weeks since Ashley was demoted, system Chancellor Dan Klaich and Board of Regents Chairman James Dean Leavitt had a choice to make: Appoint a temporary president and launch a national search to find a permanent president or find somebody who could take over immediately and stay for a couple of years.

They initially said they would do the former. They expected the board to appoint an interim president -- Smatresk, former President Carol Harter and former law school dean Richard Morgan were the top talked-about picks -- and then launch a search this fall.

But in a series of meetings with faculty, administrators, students, alumni, community groups and donors, a theme emerged: Now is not a good time to bring in a new leader.

The economy is in the pits, the university's budget is being cut, a vital accreditation review is on the schedule, a capital campaign is wrapping up, the formula that splits up higher education money among the colleges and universities probably will be rewritten and the Legislature is scheduled to meet in less than 18 months, where more budget cuts could be mandated.

All of that means, insiders said, that the university needs someone right now who knows what's going on.

Klaich, in a memo to board members in which he recommends Smatresk, called the provost an effective communicator, enthusiastic, open minded, likeable and a visionary.

Some of those are issues about which Ashley was criticized.

"He doesn't give off any sort of elitist air," Cronis said of Smatresk.

But, like Ashley, Smatresk has never led a university before. Partly to guard against making the wrong choice, he will be offered a two-year contract, not the four-year contract typically offered to new presidents. The board and Smatresk will have the option of extending the contract for another year once those two years are up.

At least officially, Smatresk will be the university's "acting president" during those two years, though Leavitt insisted Smatresk will be endowed with all the power and responsibility that any permanent president would have.

What happens then is unknown. Smatresk could be hired on permanently, or he could be dismissed and a new search launched.

Said Regent Ron Knecht: "Neal Smatresk could turn out to be just ideal. Or (the pick) could get us through the next two years and he turns out to be a B or a B-plus and we need a world-class talent, so we do a search."

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.