There are two remaining candidates to fill the shoes of Eugene R. Tempel when he retires as the founding dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy later this year.

While the university will only confirm that the search is ongoing and the intention is to have a new dean by January 1, 2015, The NonProfit Times has learned that two candidates remain for the position. Neither is from Indiana University.

Multiple sources have told The NonProfit Times that the process has not been as smooth as was expected. In fact, there has been some consideration as to under what terms Tempel might stay on for up to one more year if the new dean is not selected soon, according to multiple sources within the university and search process.

The search committee presented candidates to Charles R. Bantz, Ph.D., chancellor of the Indianapolis campus, known as IUPUI since it is shared with Purdue University. There were three finalists but one of them, from a university in California, has withdrawn his application, according to sources.

Andrew R. Klein, J.D., chair of the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy selection committee and dean of the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law, disputed the idea that the search has not gone as smoothly as hoped. He said the plan was to present a pool of candidates to the administration by mid-summer and that has happened. He said eight candidates were reduced to “those who came back to campus.”

He declined to confirm the number of candidates who made campus visits and the number of candidates still in the running for the coveted position in nonprofit academia. He cited a confidentiality pledge to the candidates who are still employed. “Chancellor Bantz is in consultation with President (Michael A.) McRobbie about the search,” he said. “The appointment of any dean is ultimately made by the Board of Trustees of Indiana University,” Klein said. “I am not involved in the conversations at this point, but I am certain that Chancellor Bantz is consulting with President McRobbie to make sure the administration presents a candidate to the board in which they both have confidence.”

The NonProfit Times has learned that the two finalists are males from Washington, D.C. Both have academic and fundraising backgrounds. Neither candidate returned messages so The NonProfit Times is withholding the names until receiving confirmation from them. One candidate is a vice president of development and alumni relations and the other works for a research association but also has international and academic experience.

One of the finalists is not Patrick M. Rooney, Ph.D., the school’s associate dean for Academic Affairs and Research and a professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies. In a May 27 email to colleagues obtained by The NonProfit Times, Rooney wrote of the disappointment that he was “not selected as one of the finalists in the second round of interviews.” He also wrote in the email, “I am deeply disappointed by this decision. I have been told there is a very competitive pool of applicants, which should make all of us very proud of what we have created with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Finally, I will do whatever I can to help the new dean find their footing at the School and help them take the School to the next level. I hope you all will as well.”

The Lilly Family School is evolved from the internationally known Center on Philanthropy of the IU-Purdue University campus in Indianapolis, Ind. The school encompasses and expands all of the previous academic degree, research and training programs, including The Fund Raising School, the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, the Women’s Philanthropy Institute and International Programs.

The school is partnered with the IU School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI and IU Bloomington, and colleagues in this field across IU and around the world to strengthen philanthropy. There were approximately 15 members of the search committee, which included members of the Lilly School board of advisors, core faculty members, school staff, faculty from other units of the university, a student and members of the community.

Tempel played an integral role in establishing the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s precursor, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and served as the center’s executive director from 1997 through 2008, transforming it into a leading national resource.

An early leader in creating the field of philanthropic studies, Tempel was the first elected president of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council, a national association of academic centers and programs that focus on the study of nonprofit organizations, voluntarism and philanthropy. He is professor of philanthropic studies and of higher education and adjunct professor of public administration at Indiana University.