Dr. Joe Wiley will be a Lion, but it won’t be here.

Wiley, one of two finalists for the presidency at Missouri Southern, withdrew from the University’s presidential search Jan. 11 after being appointed to the top position at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn. Freed-Hardeman’s mascot is also “Lions.”

Freed-Hardeman, a private Church of Christ university, has a student population of 2,000. It was No. 32 on the list of top master’s programs in the South in the 2008 U.S. News and World Report ranking. Its Web site boasts an annual operating budget of $35 million. Wiley was scheduled to visit Southern next week.

Plans for a visit and interview will continue as scheduled for Dr. Bruce Speck, now the only official finalist candidate for the Southern position. Speck will visit the University Jan. 16.

“We have made a commitment to bring Dr. Speck in on Wednesday – that’s going to go forward as planned,” said Dwight Douglas, chairman of the presidential search committee and chair of Southern’s Board of Governors. “And the Board will interview him on Wednesday evening so we’re going to stay right in accordance with our previously announced plan.

“We still have an excellent candidate on board and we’ll just go forward and see how that interview goes.”

The Jan. 16 public forum will be held at 11 a.m. with Speck answering questions e-mailed by faculty, staff, students and community members. An open reception will follow at noon. Speck will interview in closed session with the Board of Governors in the evening.

Speck is a graduate of University of Northern Colorado. He received his master’s degree at Wayne State College and holds a doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

He began his career as a science writer, then moved to an assistant professorship at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne where he developed a master’s program in technical writing. He advanced to the University of Memphis, where he coordinated the Writing-Across-the-Curriculum program. Before his current position, he was associate vice-chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. At Austin Peay State University he currently serves as provost and vice president for academic and student affairs.

Speck has authored, co-authored or edited approximately 20 books on topics of education, writing, editing and service-learning. He has also published a volume of poetry.

The University has asked that questions for the public forum be submitted to [email protected].