BISMARCK, N.D., Nov. 20, 2020 – State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Friday that a nominating committee has recommended three candidates for Gov. Doug Burgum to consider for an opening on North Dakota’s Board of Higher Education.

The candidates are Matthew Dunlevy, of Grand Forks, who is chairman and chief executive officer of SkyScopes, a drone service company; Bruce Gjovig, of Grand Forks, who is the former chief executive officer for the Center for Innovation at the University of North Dakota; and John Warford, a Bismarck orthodontist who is a former city mayor and business school dean at the University of Mary.

The three will compete for a Board of Higher Education opening left by Fargo attorney Joseph A. Wetch Jr., who resigned from the board Aug. 20. Wetch’s unfinished term ends June 30, 2024.

When fully staffed, the Board of Higher Education has eight voting members, all of whom are appointed by the governor. It oversees North Dakota’s university system, which includes 11 colleges and universities in Bismarck, Bottineau, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Mayville, Minot, Valley City, Wahpeton, and Williston.

Baesler is chair of a five-person nominating committee that recommends Board of Higher Education candidates to the governor. During a committee meeting Friday, the board chose Dunlevy, Gjovig and Warford from among six applicants for the vacancy.