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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University on Thursday named two veteran administrators to interim positions created by the appointment of Tim White as interim president.

Sabah Randhawa was appointed interim provost and executive vice president, filling White's former position. He had been vice provost for Academic Affairs since January of 2001.

Leslie Davis Burns will take over as vice provost for Academic Affairs. A professor in the Department of Apparel, Interiors, Housing and Merchandising, she served from 1996 to 2000 as director of Undergraduate Academic Programs and associate vice provost for Academic Affairs.

"Sabah and Leslie are exceptional and experienced leaders who will provide a smooth transition while the chancellor and the state board conduct a search for the president," White said.

OSU's provost and vice president for Academic Affairs is the university's chief academic officer, with supervisory responsibility for all of the university's academic colleges and schools, the OSU Extension Service, Information Services, the OSU-Cascades Campus and several other units. The executive vice president also serves as acting president for the university when the president is absent.

Randhawa, who also is the interim dean of the College of Business, has been a faculty member at OSU for nearly 20 years. Most of his career has been in the College of Engineering, and he headed the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from 1993-99. He became associate dean of the college in 1999, and two years later was named vice provost for Academic Affairs.

He is a 1976 chemical engineering graduate of the University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan. Randhawa also has a master's degree from OSU, and a Ph.D. from Arizona State University - both in industrial engineering.

OSU's vice provost for Academic Affairs provides leadership for developing university curriculum, assisting with budgeting and strategic planning, overseeing student enrollment and retention issues, and supervising faculty promotion and tenure.

Burns has been on the OSU faculty since 1985, when she joined the Department of Apparel, Interiors, Housing and Merchandising as an associate professor. She previously had been on the faculty at Utah State University. In 1996, she was named associate vice provost and director of Undergraduate Academic Programs, where she remained for four years until returning to full-time teaching and research.

She is a 1978 graduate of Washington State University, where she received a degree in clothing and textiles. Burns has a Ph.D. from Purdue University in consumer sciences and retailing.