The search became necessary when Nick Didow resigned as the center's director almost three months ago to return to a professorship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School.
A search committee, headed by Cindy Wolf Johnson, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, screened potential candidates from across the country. "We've done an extensive review of the applicants," Wolf Johnson said.
Criteria for the candidates included experience in public service and three years of experience in higher education.
The three finalists are Lynn White Blanchard, Michael Davis and John O'Sullivan.
Blanchard is the vice chairwoman of community initiatives in the Department of Community Health and Health Studies for the Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Networks in Allentown, Pa.
Davis is the assistant director and the state program leader of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service. He is also the head of the Department of 4-H Youth Development in Raleigh.
O'Sullivan works at N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University as a farm management and marketing specialist on the N.C. Cooperative Extension Program.
Two of the three candidates have connections to UNC. Davis received a degree in sociology from UNC in 1973, and Blanchard received a master's degree in 1985 and a doctorate in 1989 from the UNC Department of Health Behavior and Health Education.
Each candidate is scheduled to visit the campus in the next two weeks to participate in public forums. Officials say during the forums, candidates will address how they envision UNC becoming a leading university for public service and how service can assist a research university.
