Phyllis Wise, UW provost and executive vice president, announced she has selected Ana Mari Cauce, an in-house professor and administrator, to as dean of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences.

The decision is pending approval from the Board of Regents. Her annual salary will be $300,000.

The only finalist from the UW, Cauce is a psychology professor serving under Wise as the executive vice provost. However, her in-house experience wasn’t significant to the decision.

“Dr. Cauce’s experience at the UW will allow her to begin quickly, since she knows the University well. But she would have been an outstanding dean at any university, and the other candidates would have learned about the University within a short period of time,” Wise said.

She added that it’s difficult to choose leaders, because search committees usually identify more than one qualified person.

“She [Cauce] understands the importance of strategic and visionary thinking and that we must take advantage of unexpected opportunities that arise. She will be an outstanding dean,” Wise said.

Cauce will replace David Hodge, who left spring 2007 to become the president of Miami University in Ohio.

An advisory search committee, composed of 21 faculty and staff, began searching last July. The application deadline was set for August 24, and the committee has been narrowing down the applicants to four finalists since.

“The search committee, as well as administrators, faculty and students in arts and sciences were all part of the interview of finalists. Comments from the entire campus community were transmitted to the search committee via a secure Web site. We took all comments into account in producing the final pros/cons list for Provost Wise,” said Matt O’Donnell, the dean of engineering and bioengineering who lead the committee.

[Reach reporter Celeste Flint at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]