The Utah State Board of Regents has named Robert C. Huddleston, chief academic officer at Gateway Community College in Phoenix, as the new president of Dixie College.
Huddleston's selection was announced at a Thursday morning press conference in St. George.Huddleston will start work July 1, replacing Douglas Alder, who has headed Dixie College since 1986. Alder plans to teach history at the school.
Current salary figures for the new president were not immediately available. However, in 1989 Alder was paid $63,600 and received use of a house, car and travel and entertainment allowances.
Huddleston is dean of instruction at Gateway and serves as acting president when that school's leader is away. Huddleston has been at Gateway since 1986, and during that time the enrollment has grown from 2,800 to 8,640 students.
In his current job, Huddleston is responsible for 66 full-time faculty members and 250 part-time instructors who teach in six divisions.
Over the past 10 years, he has established more than 35 academic and occupational programs, including educational partnerships with major companies, while at Gateway. From 1981-86, Huddleston was associate dean of instruction at San Juan College in Far-mington, N.M.
Before that, Huddleston either administered or taught business programs at Arizona Western College, Yuma, and Northland Pioneer College, Holbrook, Ariz.
Huddleston received a doctoral degree in vocational education/
higher education from Colorado State University and bachelor's and master's degrees in business education from Northern Arizona University.
He was drafted by two major league baseball teams while attending Northern Arizona University. He also has coached com-munity baseball, basketball and soccer.
Huddleston and his wife, Linda, a former track and field athletic and college coach, have seven children.
The regents interviewed six finalists, men and women, throughout the day Wednesday and made their selection Wednesday evening. Huddleston was chosen from an original field of 197 applicants and nominees.