Lawrence school Superintendent Rick Doll, left, shakes the hand of Marcel Harmon, chosen Monday evening to fill an empty seat on the school board.

The Lawrence school board appointed Marcel Harmon, an active volunteer on the local school scene, as the board’s seventh member Monday.

Harmon was chosen from among 14 applicants to replace Adina Morse, who resigned in August to serve as the executive director of the Lawrence Schools Foundation, which provides funding for the district.

Harmon, 46, works for an engineering firm, M.E. Group, where he evaluates how people interact with buildings. A Lawrence resident for over eight years, Harmon has served on several education committees with a local and statewide focus.

“I’m excited,” Harmon said. “It’s a good opportunity to serve the community. It’s a really exciting time and I’m just happy to be a part of that and help them.”

He is the chair of the Woodlawn Elementary School Site Council and in 2010 sat on the Elementary School Facility Vision Task Force.

From 2011 to 2013, Harmon also sat on the Kansas Next Generation Science Standard Review Committee, which advocates for improved science and engineering teaching standards.

Four of the six board members named Harmon as a top-two choice from the field of applicants, which tied him with another candidate, Scott Criqui, a human resource manager at Trinity In-Home Care.

Harmon, however, received four first-place votes to Criqui’s one. All six members approved his appointment.

“He’s been engaged in so much of what our board’s been doing the past six years,” board vice president Vanessa Sanburn said before the vote. “I think he’s one of those potential board members who truly appreciates the challenge and benefits of public education.”

State law requires that Harmon’s seat be placed on the 2015 ballot. He will then serve through June 30, 2015, board president Shannon Kimball said. Five seats will be up for election that year.

Also on Monday, the board approved a guaranteed maximum price of $7.4 million with Nabholz Construction Services for renovations to Kennedy Elementary School.