Advisory panel passes over chair Ken Powell in UMN regents re-election bid

Josh Verges, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read
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A panel tasked with recommending candidates for the University of Minnesota Board of Regents has declined to endorse the board’s current chairman, Ken Powell, for a second term.

The Regents Candidate Advisory Council voted Friday to send 12 names to the Legislature’s joint higher education committee for consideration for four seats on the U’s governing board.

Powell, the former General Mills CEO, placed fifth out of eight finalists on the first ballot for the at-large position on Friday; he was dropped from consideration after the third ballot.

Powell was grilled during his advisory council interview Thursday on a range of controversial decisions during his time on the board:

Dan Wolter, a panel member and its former chair, said during the interview Thursday that he was Powell’s “No. 1 fan” in 2017, “but I’ve got reservations this time,” citing Gabel’s position with Securian, her latest pay raise as president and McMillan’s interim chancellor appointment.

“What can you say to reassure me that there are adults in charge at the Board of Regents?” Wolter asked.

Mike Burns, who lost his job as head coach of the men’s gymnastics team after it was cut from the U’s budget, was one of the four people the panel recommended Friday for consideration of Powell’s at-large seat.

Powell isn’t the only candidate with board experience who was refused an endorsement Friday. Michael Hsu, who lost a bid for a second term on the board in 2021, also was passed over for the at-large slot.

12 names advance

The advisory council, whose 24 members are appointed by the Legislature, is responsible for interviewing candidates and recommending between two and four for each open position. The Legislature’s joint higher education committee then sends its recommendations to the full Legislature, which votes to elect each regent to an unpaid, six-year term.

The Legislature can, and often does, choose candidates who were not recommended, including Sviggum in 2017.

Regents customarily serve no more than two consecutive terms, but there is no legal limit.

Winning recommendations from the advisory council Friday were:

  • 2nd Congressional District: Robyn Gulley, a union trainer and West St. Paul city councilor; and Joe Atkins, an attorney, Dakota County commissioner and former state lawmaker (Sviggum did not seek re-election);

  • 3rd District: restaurateur William Humphries; former state lawmaker and Congressman Bill Luther; Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner; and former Allina Health CEO Penny Wheeler (Darrin Rosha did not seek re-election);

  • 8th District: regulatory plant pathologist Susan Cohen; and Tadd Johnson, who was director of graduate studies at the Duluth campus until Gov. Tim Walz appointed him to the Board of Regents in June following McMillan’s board resignation;

  • At-Large: Becky Siekmeier, an internship program director who was a Big 10 discus champion for the Gophers in the 1980s; Burns, the former gymnastics coach; Val Aarsvold, executive director of the Minnesota FFA Foundation; and Flora Yang, the Twin Cities student body president studying human physiology (Powell was not selected).

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