When the facts of Penn State’s complicity in child molestation finally came out, the careers and reputations of then-president Graham Spanier and head coach Joe Paterno were destroyed and their positions’ emptied.
Spanier’s empty seat needed someone to fill it, and former Florida State University president Eric Barron was hired to the post. This, in turn, left a space open for Barron’s old position.
Now, it seems, this strange “fill one seat and another empties” job ascension chain has attracted the attention of USC Provost Michael Amiridis, who has recently applied to fill the role of FSU’s president.
Amiridis, effectively President Harris Pastides’ second-in-command, has been a major figure in his own right, working his way through USC’s Chemical Engineering department for 15 years and serving as provost for five.
His 20 years at USC, progressing to ever more senior positions at a regular pace, is representative of his talent and drive. His accomplishments are many and significant; perhaps the most notable being his acquisition of $20 million in funding, which was used to hire hundreds of new faculty members.
The prospect of losing such a valuable administrator is disheartening. Not only because his absence itself will have negative administrative consequences, but also because the school will have to mobilize to fill the position quickly.
While we are reasonably sure that the potential pool of applicants for provost (should Amiridis receive the offer and accept the job) is being looked at by the school, USC administration officials have yet to comment on any potential plans to replace Amiridis.
Also yet to be announced: whether applicants for the job would come from members of USC faculty or the search would be opened for a wider field.
Both options, drawing internally or externally, have drawbacks: if the application search is strictly internal, the best applicants from outside USC might be overlooked. But if the contest is opened for a free-for-all, the sheer wave of potential candidates could seriously slow down the process.
Additionally, the process to adequately pick a nominee (and let them settle into the job) will take an extended amount of time, no matter who is picked.
Among the 39 candidates in the running for FSU’s presidential seat are the school’s interim president Garnett Stokes and state Sen. John Thrasher, both of whom have impressive resumes.
Still, it’s early days yet for the FSU search committee; submissions were finalized Tuesday, and for now, everyone is in the running.
Nevertheless, the sheer volume of Amiridis’ accomplishments, both as a part of and outside USC, makes it possible (if not likely) that he will be picked as FSU president.
And while we’re saddened at the possibility of losing an accomplished administrator, we feel that his talents would well-compliment FSU in the same way that his presence here has shaped USC over the last 20 years.