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West Chester U. names four finalists for president

West Chester University has named four finalists for president, including Chris M. Fiorentino, a 33-year employee of the university who is currently serving as interim president.

The other finalists include: Anny Morrobel-Sosa, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the City University of New York's Herbert H. Lehman College; Cady Short-Thompson, dean of Blue Ash College at the University of Cincinnati; and Bahman Ghorashi, Provost and vice president for academic affairs at Tennessee Tech University.

The candidates are scheduled to visit the campus next week and meet with faculty, staff and students. They also will speak at an open forum. The schedule for the visits and detailed information on each of the candidates can be found at http://www.wcupa.edu/president-search/candidates.aspx

With more than 17,000 students West Chester is the largest of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. While the system has experienced declining enrollment in recent years, West Chester continues to grow.

Fiorentino became interim president in April 2016 upon the retirement of Greg Weisenstein. He most recently was vice president for external operations and before that, dean of the college of business and public affairs. He started at West Chester in 1983 as an assistant professor of economics.

He got his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from Temple University, as well as his doctor of philosophy.

Morrobel-Sosa has been provost at Lehman since 2012 and before that dean of the College of Science at The University of Texas at El Paso. She previously was dean of the college of science and technology at Georgia Southern University and interim associate vice provost for academic programs at Cal Poly. She started as an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Alabama in 1985.

She received her bachelor's degree in physics and chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico, a master's in chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and her doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Southern California.

Short-Thompson has been a dean at the University of Cincinnati, her alma mater, since 2010. She previously chaired the department of communication at Northern Kentucky University where she worked since 1996.

She got her bachelor's and master's in communication and doctorate in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Cincinnati.

Ghorashi has been provost at Tennessee Tech since 2013. Before that, he was an administrator at Cleveland State University, including executive director of the Fern Research & Development Institute and Fern Academy and the dean of the college of engineering. He also worked at the Ohio Space Institute.


He got his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Wayne State University and his master's and doctorate in chemical engineering from Ohio State University.