Associated Press

Gov. John Hoeven's chief of staff and a higher education official from the Middle East are among five semifinalists for the job of chancellor in the North Dakota university system.

William Goetz has been an aide to Hoeven since the governor was elected in 2000, after serving as chief of staff to Gov. Ed Schafer the previous three years.

Goetz was a business professor at Dickinson State University for 30 years, and the school's chief academic officer for 14 years.

Another semifinalist, Warren Halsey Fox, has served as executive director for the Office of Higher Education in United Arab Emirates since 2004. He was executive director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission from 1991 to 2002.

The search committee named six finalists but Lois Muir, a professor and former provost of the University of Montana, withdrew her name after Friday's meeting because she accepted a provost position overseas, said search consultant Allen Koenig.

State Board of Higher Education member Richie Smith, chairman of the search committee, said he would ask other committee members whether they want to add another name to the list.

The other semifinalists are Ronald Abrams, president of North Central State College in Mansfield, Ohio; Roger Bowen, general secretary of the American Association of University Professors in Washington, D.C. and Paul Keys, provost for academic and student affairs at Governors State University, in University Park, Ill.

The search committee plans to interview the candidates through a video conference on Jan. 27. The field will be narrowed to three or four finalists.

The state Board of Higher Education plans to name the successor to Eddie Dunn in March. Dunn was named chancellor in August when Robert Potts resigned after two years on the job.