Last week, Eau Claire community members had a chance to hear from the four finalists in the search for UW-Eau Claire’s next chancellor. Each of the four finalists spoke at interview forums to make their case.
Members of the public had the chance to attend or livestream the events and submit their feedback afterward. The person chosen will take over as UW-Eau Claire’s chancellor in the fall 2026 semester.
The four finalists include:
Matt Cecil, interim provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at UW-Parkside, Raj Dakshinamurthy, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at The University of Texas-Permian Basin, Edwin Martini, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UW-Oshkosh and Diana Rogers-Adkinson, senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
This search takes place in the midst of the firing of the former Universities of Wisconsin system president, Jay Rothman and follows the spring 2026 departure of the former chancellor, James Schmidt, who transitioned to become president of James Madison University in Harrisburg, Virginia. Since last spring, Michael Carney has served as UW-Eau Claire’s interim vice chancellor.
An 11-member screening committee was appointed to help identify the next chancellor. When The Spectator reached out for comment, committee member Kent Girbich said via email that due to a non-disclosure agreement associated with the search process, no members of the group are permitted to speak publicly on the matter.
The finalists each were given a day to speak at 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday of last week.
All of the candidates spoke about the rising issue of artificial intelligence (AI) and the impact the technology would have on higher education.
Matt Cecil
Cecil has over 17 years of higher education leadership experience. He holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Iowa, a master of arts in history from Minnesota State University, Mankato and a bachelor of science in history from South Dakota State University.
At UW-Parkside, Cecil launched an AI fluency initiative for students.
“Over the weekend, the Palantir CEO talked about how we don’t need the humanities anymore because we have AI,” Cecil said during his interview forum. “I can’t tell you how much I hate that statement. That’s horrifying to me. The reality is that AI is going to change things, and we need to have a strategy and we need to be a part of this conversation.”
According to his UW-Parkside staff page, Cecil studies media history with a particular focus on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s communication strategies under J. Edgar Hoover. Cecil is the author of three books and more than two dozen articles on that subject and has been nationally recognized for his work.
Raj Dakshinamurthy
Dakshinamurthy has been working in higher education leadership roles since 2009. He holds a Ph.D. and post-doctoral from the University of Arkansas and completed an executive leadership program at Harvard University.
According to his resume, Dakshinamurthy spearheaded the establishment of The University of Texas-Permian Basin’s College of Arts and Humanities, College of Engineering and Sciences and College of Health Sciences. He also spoke about AI during his forum last week.
“I’m a very strong believer in human capacity,” Dakshinamurthy said. “In [the] long term, as humans, we can outsmart any type of technology. So, if [we] sit back and find a way to take the AI, use it for our advantage, we may be a beneficiary. At the end of the day, we can make the AI work for us instead of us working for AI.”
Dakshinamurthy is a bioanalytical chemist by training. His studies focused on the understanding of protein structure and function, drug discovery and biological nanomaterials. He has published over 40 publications and 350 research presentations related to the field of biomedical sciences.
Edwin Martini
Martini has over 20 years of experience at public universities. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s in American studies from Pitzer College.
According to his resume, Martini was part of an effort at UW-Oshkosh to slash an $18.5 million operating deficit in two years and consolidate the university’s four colleges into three.
When asked about AI at his forum, Martini said one overarching policy at the university would help students succeed.
“A lot of our students —- and I heard this from Eau Claire students today at lunch — are experiencing a bit of whiplash when they go from one class to another and there are completely different policies on AI,” Martini said. “So even some consistency in language there would help.”
A Minnesota native, Martini’s studies have had an emphasis on American history. He is author or editor of five books related to various periods of American history.
Diana Rogers-Adkinson
Rogers-Adkinson has been working in higher education leadership roles since 2009.
She holds a Ph.D. in counseling and human development and marriage, family therapy and special education research, as well as a masters of education in community counseling from Kent State University. She also earned a bachelor’s in special education from Ball State University.
On the topic of AI, Rogers-Adkinson said at her forum that universities are beyond the point of banning the technology completely.
“What we have to make sure we’re doing is to prepare our students for the current workforce —- which has already integrated AI into many disciplines — in a way that, if they do not have those skills, they will not be workforce-ready for their initial job,” Rogers-Adkinson said.
In her current position, Rogers-Adkinson oversees 10 universities within the state of Pennsylvania. In a previous position at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, she helped lead the academic integration of three legacy universities.
After reviewing campus feedback, according to the UW-Eau Claire website, a Special Regent Committee will interview the finalists and recommend a candidate to the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents, which must approve the appointment.
“The person selected through this process will be UW-Eau Claire’s ninth leader,” the website reads.
Wojahn can be reached at [email protected].
