Two Women Among the Four Finalists to Lead the Billings Campus of Montana State University

Montana State University has announced a field of four finalists for the position of chancellor of the Billings campus. The campus enrolls about 4,000 undergraduate students and 400 graduate students. Women make up 61 percent of the undergraduate student body.

The four finalists will all visit campus by the end of the month for a series of interviews and public forums. Two of the four candidates are women.

Since 2013, Carmen Simone has served as president of Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado. Previously, she was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. Earlier, Dr. Simone was vice president for academic affairs at Casper College in Wyoming. Dr. Simone is a graduate of the University of North Dakota. She earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Colorado State University.

Susan Elrod is provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She has held that post since 2016. From 2014 to 2016, Dr. Elrod was interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Chico. Earlier, she was dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at Fresno State University in California. Dr. Elrod is a graduate of California State University at Chico and holds a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of California at Davis.