The Kansas Board of Regents announced it had found a finalist for the Kansas State Presidential opening.The first finalist chosen by the search committee is Kirk H. Schulz, vice president for research and economic development at Mississippi State University. Although you can check out his credentials and resume at the regents’ search Web page, Schulz seems to have followed the traditional academic background to a university presidency.Two other finalists have been chosen, but won’t be named until just before they visit K-State later this month — when we see if they, too, have solid academic backgrounds, or come from the business or political realm.The search is expected to be completed by early this year, leaving the regents to focus on their remaining two executive searches at Pittsburg State and Kansas University.K-State’s Jon Wefald, Pittsburg State’s Tom Bryant and KU’s Robert Hemenway have all announced plans to retire at the end of the 2008-09 academic year. The KSU committee has been working since July to find qualified candidates.