MADISON — Dr. Douglas N. Hastad, interim chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse since June 2000, has been recommended to the UW System Board of Regents for appointment as the next chancellor of the university. The full board will act on the recommendation at its March 9 meeting in Madison. The appointment would be effective immediately.
The recommendation was made by a Special Regent Committee and UW System President Katharine Lyall, following interviews on March 5 with Hastad and two other finalists. Finalists for the position were forwarded for consideration by a UW-La Crosse campus/community search and screen committee. Each finalist visited the campus during February to meet with faculty, staff, students and the public.
“I am very pleased that Doug Hastad has agreed to serve as UW-La Crosse’s ninth chancellor,” said Lyall. “He has 12 years of experience at La Crosse and is well regarded in the community and throughout the UW System. Under his leadership, I expect UW-La Crosse will continue to grow in importance as an institution of choice for students and as a partner in the economic vitality of the region.”
Hastad would succeed Judith Kuipers, who resigned last year to become president of the Fielding Institute. Said Lyall, “The very competitive slate of finalists was a tribute to UW-La Crosse’s growing reputation for excellence and the hard work of the search committee,” chaired by James Gallagher, professor of archaeology.
Hastad, 51, came to UW-La Crosse in 1989 as dean and professor of exercise and sport science in the College of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. The Department of Social Work and the School of Education were added to the college in 1997 and it was renamed, with Hastad continuing as dean.
In 1998, Hastad was named interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. He was appointed to that position permanently in June 1999.
Prior to coming to UW-La Crosse, Hastad was an associate professor and chair of the Department of Physical Education at Texas Christian University (1984-89). He also served for 18 months as interim dean of the School of Education (1987-88).
Previously, Hastad was an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education at Northern Illinois University (1979-84). He was also an instructor, administrative assistant and assistant men’s basketball coach at Concordia College-Moorhead (1976-78) and a teacher and coach in the Moorhead (MN) Public Schools (1972-76). During the summers of 1983 and 1984, he was a visiting professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education at Arizona State University.
Hastad’s background includes a B.A. degree in health and physical education and English from Concordia College-Moorhead (1971), an M.S. degree in health and physical education from Washington State University (1972), and an E.D. degree in secondary education from Arizona State (1980). In 1992, he participated in the Harvard Institute for Educational Management.
Hastad is the co-author of three editions of a college text, Measurement and Evaluation in Physical Education and Exercise Science, and co-author of 11 books/manuals related to physical education. He is also the co-author of a number of book chapters and articles published in professional journals.
At UW-La Crosse, Hastad has served on a variety of campuswide committees and policy-making groups. He was a member of the Chancellor Search and Screen Committee in 1990-91 and the Provost and Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs Search and Screen Committee in 1991-92.
In the local community, he is currently serving on the boards of the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, and the La Crosse Family YMCA. He has also been active in the local leadership of United Way, the Rotary Club, and the American Heart Association. At the national level, he is a member of the NCAA National Youth Sports Community Advisory Board.
Hastad is a native of Moorhead, Minnesota. He and wife, Nancy Hastad, have a son, Jacob, and a daughter, Rebekah. Jacob is a freshman at UW-La Crosse and Rebekah is a high school junior in La Crosse.
Regent Jonathan Barry of Mount Horeb chaired the Special Regent Committee for the UW-La Crosse Chancellor Search. Other members were Regents Joseph Alexander, Madison; Roger Axtell, Janesville; and Lolita Schneiders, Menomonee Falls.
Barry noted that “Doug Hastad has done an excellent job as interim chancellor. He has strong communications skills and strong links to the local community. He is active in economic development activities, such as last year’s Wisconsin Economic Summit, and has promoted undergraduate research on his campus. The students, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends of UW-La Crosse will all benefit from this appointment.”
UW-La Crosse was founded in 1909, and is one of 11 comprehensive universities in the statewide UW System. The university enrolls 9,162 students in four areas: College of Business Administration; College of Liberal Studies – Humanities, Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies and the School of Arts and Communications; College of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Teacher Education; and College of Science and Allied Health. La Crosse is a historic community of 52,000 people, located on the Mississippi River about halfway between Milwaukee and the Twin Cities.