Douglas G. Klarup was named interim dean of the College of Sciences on Jan. 7 after the retirement of former dean Harold Ornes on Oct. 31, 2015.

Klarup said he is excited and honored to be serving as interim dean of the College of Sciences.

Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs, said Ornes’ retirement was sudden and a result of a personal and work related reasons.

“We had to act quickly and hire from within,” Lord said. “The process moved along quickly.”

Mary Anne Hanner, who served as dean of the College of Sciences from 2000-2011, came out of retirement to fill the role during November and December of the fall 2015 semester.

“She was a tremendous help in the transition,” said Klarup.

Lord said there was a formal search process led by three people to pick a possible interim and four candidates were picked.

The candidates met with faculty, staff and chairs of the College of Sciences and with administrators.

They answered questions about their background and future plans, Klarup said.

“There are very dedicated people here at Eastern, and I was grateful to have so many interesting discussions,” Klarup said.

After serving as the chair in the chemistry department from 2003 to 2009, Klarup said he decided to apply for the position because of his administrative experience.

Lord said that out of the four candidates, who each had great strengths and skills, Klarup was the best fit.

Lord said there are many other interim positions this semester as a result of the budget crisis, and Eastern is in no position to hire a permanent dean at the moment.

“I’m hoping the budget situation comes to an end so we can move on to providing a great education to our students,” Lord said.

Klarup will be dean for three semesters, and during that time the department will be able to run a search to look for a permanent dean.

“The cycle for hiring deans takes about a year,” Lord said.

Klarup said his goal is to assist the departments within the College of Sciences to move their own educational missions as well as the university’s educational missions.

This involves helping with staffing, program and curriculum development, and coordinating with the other colleges across campus.

“It is a dynamic place that provides some truly unique learning opportunities for students, and I’m happy to be apart of it,” Klarup said.

Lord said Klarup will help the department manage the difficult budget situation as well as work on program opportunities to make them more attractive to students.

Klarup said it is challenging to step in midyear, but the staff working in the office has been terrific at bringing him up to speed.

Klarup has frequently taught chemistry courses at Eastern, and his work has also consisted of research on the susceptibility of lower Embarras watershed to endocrine disruptor contamination.

While interim dean, Klarup will continue teaching and will be instructing a chemistry course.

Analicia Haynes contributed to this story.

Jeff Coy can be reached at 581-2812 or jrcoy@eiu.edu.