Why is someone emailing me an offer to apply to be chair?

I recently go the following email (I blocked out identifying information of who send it and what college is involved. I doubt I needed to legally but... you never know.) I include my comments on the email in cap letters.

I am NOT flattered by the email. I have LESS regard for those who send it.

I will say that the school is respectable and I had heard of them. I'm just surprised they heard of me.

(The letter was typeset fine- if there are problems with typesetting below thats on me.)

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Dear Dr. Gasarch,

XXX Inc. has been retained to assist XXX University in the search for the
next Chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Department.

ADMIN EXPERIENCE: RUNNING AN REU PROGRAM. NOT NEARLY ENOUGH.

Your expertise and accomplishments have come to our attention, and we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about this position.

IF THEY MEAN ADMIN-EXPERTISE, THATS JUST SILLY.

IF THEY MEAN PAPERS AND SUCH... LETS JUST SAY I AM ON THE OBSCURE END OF THEORY AND WONDER WHAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS THEY MEAN. MY MUFFIN PAPER?

EXPERTISE: MENTORING HS AND UGRAD STUDENTS. BLOGGING? EXPERT OR NOT I"VE DONE IT FOR A WHILE. NOT THE STUFF OF CHAIR'S.

Could you suggest some times over the next week that
might work for your schedule? We will be very respectful of your time.


XXX is located in XXX, XX where the city’s diverse and growing population puts it in the
Top 10 U.S. cities in population and in the Top 5 fastest growing cities. XXX has an endowment of $1.5B and recently completed a $1.3B campaign. The Computer Science and Engineering Department has been targeted for significant advancement and new faculty hires. The next Department Chair will lead and direct this enhancement.


The XXX Metroplex is a dynamic region with leading high-technology companies in the aerospace,
defense, energy, information technology, life sciences, semiconductors, telecommunications,
transportation, and biomedical industries. Some of the top companies and research institutes with a strong presence in the XXX area include LONG LIST OF COMPANIES I HAVE HEARD OF.

THESE LAST TWO PARAGRAPHS WOULD BE A LOT MORE IMPRESSIVE IF I DIDN"T KNOW THEIR WAY TO PICK CANDIDATES TO ASK TO APPLY WAS SO TERRIBLE.

Please click here to view a two-minute video in which the President, Provost, and Dean of the
XXX School of Engineering at XXX discuss some of the possibilities for research and growth
that the Chair of Computer Science and Engineering will have the opportunity to develop.
Cybersecurity, particularly, is an identified area for growth and hiring to directly complement the XXX Institute for Cyber Security. A full listing of the qualifications and duties of the position can be found in the profile under “Current Searches” at XXX

CYBERSECURITY- I HAVE TAUGHT A 1-CREDIT MINI-COURSE IN CRYPTO. I HAVE A SURVEY AND A PAPER ON PRIVATE INFO RETRIEVAL. I DOUBT THAT'S WHY THEY CONTACTED ME.


Best,

XXX
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So why did they email me? Speculation

1) They meant to email Lance and got confused.

2) They cast a VERY wide net. The UPSIDE of doing that so is that they might find someone
they would have overlooked. The DOWNSIDE of doing that is... thats the problem with
spam- there is absolutely no downside.

3) They emailed every computer science professor who has a wikipedia page? a blog? a book?
Some criteria which I happened to fit.