MANKATO — To those who knew him and his work, his announcement that he's leaving to pursue a better opportunity elsewhere was anything but a surprise.
Fernando Delgado, Minnesota State University's dean of graduate studies and research, announced this week he will leave the university at the end of June to take a higher- profile job with Hamline University.
Delgado will be the dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Hamline, a private college in St. Paul with about 1,800 undergraduate students and nearly 1,000 graduate students. Hamline was the state's first university, established in 1854.
"When we hired him, we knew he was a rapidly rising star," said Scott Olson, MSU's vice president of academic affairs. "Sometimes there are folks you hire who are rockets. You want to hang onto them for as long as you can, but you know they're not going to be around forever."
Delgado could not be reached for comment Friday.
Olson said Delgado was a major player in the university's push to add applied doctoral degrees to its academic menu. He said Delgado excelled at being an advocate for the university, and was a good ambassador between the university and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system Chancellor's office.
Losing Delgado will make things more difficult on the doctoral program front, but Olson said much of the work remaining is up to the individual departments.
"The first year is mostly about getting the structure and processes in place, the footings on which you can build," Olson said. "All of that was the conversation for this year, and that's where Fernando was so valuable."
For now, Olson says the vacancy will be filled on an interim basis, and he's already getting nominations. After an interim dean is selected, he'll begin a national search for a permanent replacement.
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