Iowa State University

Inside Iowa State
Jan. 10, 1997

UPDATE Jan. 13, 1997: Laurel Allen has withdrawn her name as a candidate for associate director of affirmative action.

Finalists named in AA search

by Linda Charles
Four finalists have been named in the search for an associate director of affirmative action.

The finalists are Laurel Allen, affirmative action specialist with the University of California, Berkeley; Charles Azebeokhai, executive director/EEO officer for the Dubuque Department of Human Rights; Phillip R. Pearson, compliance officer with the Los Angeles Community College District; and Willie E. Robinson, equal opportunity administrator for the city of Des Moines.

The associate director of affirmative action will assist in executing programmatic and compliance duties of the Affirmative Action Office. The position previously was held by Jan Padgitt, who left the university during fall semester.

The finalists will visit ISU this month to interview and participate in open forums.

Open forums
2 p.m., Memorial Union

 Allen has been an affirmative action specialist at the University of California since 1987. She also has been a consultant with Ben Harrison Associates, Oakland, Calif., since 1991. She was a senior associate writer with the Kaiser Foundation health care program, Oakland, and assistant quality assurance coordinator with the San Francisco Medical Care Outpatient Improvement Program, San Francisco General Hospital.

She has a B.A. in English from San Francisco State University and an M.S. in public administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.

Azebeokhai has been executive director and EEO officer with the Dubuque Human Rights Commission since 1991. He also was a labor market economist in the labor market information division of the Department of Employment Security and a case manager with the Family Support Administration, both in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received a B.S. in finance (1980), M.S. in economics (1985) and M.S. in human resource administration (1987), all from Utah State University, Logan.

Pearson has been a compliance officer (personnel group) with the Los Angeles Community College District since 1995. He also was a hearing officer with California State University, Northridge; judge pro tem and arbitrator with the Los Angeles Municipal and Superior Courts; associate general counsel with Columbia Savings and Loan Association, Beverly Hills, Calif.; senior counsel-employee relations, with Wickes Companies Inc., Santa Monica, Calif; senior counsel-employee relations, director-employee relations and counsel with TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif; counsel for Exxon Co., U.S.A., Pelham, N.Y., and Los Angeles; and judge advocate in the U.S. Air Force, Milwaukee, Wis. He received a B.S. in accountancy (1964) and J.S. Law (1967) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Robinson has been the equal opportunity administrator with the city of Des Moines since 1978. He also was coordinator of residence life at Iowa State, a case investigator with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, Des Moines; and human relations specialist with the Des Moines Human Rights Commission. He received a B.S. in physical education (1970) and M.S. in higher education, student personnel (1973) from Iowa State.

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