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SOU candidate has claim to fame She even became �Jeopardy� question By SARA MURPHY ASHLAND � Answer: One finalist in the presidential search at Southern Oregon University has been a question on "Jeopardy." Question: Who is Elisabeth Zinser? That�s correct. She�s chancellor of the University of Kentucky-Lexington Campus and one of three candidates with a chance to be the next president of SOU. But that�s not why she holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 1988, Zinser was president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., for just four days � the shortest university presidency on record. Three finalists Three candidates are finalists for the president�s position at Southern Oregon University: Marvin C. Henberg, a vice president at Linfield College in McMinnville; Bryan M. Johnston, a dean at Willamette University in Salem; Elisabeth A. Zinser, chancellor of the University of Kentucky-Lexington. Zinser met with media Monday; Henberg and Johnston are scheduled to hold press conferences this afternoon. The public is invited to meet the candidates during evening receptions in the Stevenson Union Redford Lounge. Zinser�s reception will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today; Johnston�s will be held at the same time Wednesday. Henberg met with community members Monday. The state Board of Higher Education is expected to appoint a president Friday during a special meeting in Ashland. She was the first woman president at Gallaudet, the nation�s only university for the deaf. Though student protesters barred her from campus during her brief term, Zinser�s portrait hangs alongside those of other past presidents. The uproar that led Zinser to resign wasn�t about her experience or personality. It was about her hearing. "All of a sudden, the time had come when the deaf community was sick and tired of not having their people recognized," Zinser says. Though Gallaudet had never had a deaf president, two of three finalists for the position in March 1988 were deaf. When Zinser got the job, protests shut down the campus. "I realized this is the one thing they�ve got to have to feel liberated," she says. "So I resigned." A year later, Zinser was named president of the University of Idaho, a post she held for six years. During that time, she married Don Mackin, a former Idaho state legislator. One of Zinser�s roles during that time was consultant to former President George Bush�s advisory group on campus alcohol and drug abuse. Zinser says she�s not a staunch Republican � "quite the opposite" � but was invited to join the group after the University of Idaho, which had gained a reputation as a party school, had serious problems with student drinking during her tenure. When a female student was paralyzed by an alcohol-induced fall, the campus became one of the first in the nation to go dry. Now, after nearly six years in Kentucky, Zinser says she�s looking for a new challenge and a return to the West. "This is home," she says. Zinser grew up in Palo Alto, Calif., and received degrees from Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco and Berkeley. She earned a second master�s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zinser, 60, says she�s "interested in, if I can use the term, �wrapping my arms� around a smaller institution and really getting to know the students, staff and faculty." University of Kentucky President Charles Wethington, who oversees a medical center and a community college in addition to the university Zinser manages as chancellor, says she is "superbly qualified" to be president of SOU � and somebody whom he "would be very sad to see go." One of Zinser�s strengths, he says, is "her ability to work with and create relationships within and among institutions." She says she�d like to put those partnering skills to the test in the Rogue Valley, forging stronger alliances between SOU and Rogue Community College, as well as with the business community. Zinser says she can help SOU become an "even more vital resource to the region" and that the school has the potential to "become one of the best-known, affordable liberal arts colleges for undergraduates." "It really is a best-kept secret, in a lot of ways," she says. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Sara Murphy at 482-4655, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.