OREM — Utah Valley State College President William Sederburg is being called an early forerunner in the search for a new chief of Michigan State University.
But Sederburg, who assumed the helm at UVSC in October, spent much of Tuesday downplaying newspaper reports naming him as a candidate to replace President Peter McPherson, who announced Friday he will step down Dec. 30 from MSU's top post.
"I'm not a candidate," Sederburg told the Deseret Morning News. "But I'm kind of honored to be thought of."
Sederburg, who lived in East Lansing County, Mich., for 30 years before coming to UVSC, was one of four people mentioned in Sunday's Detroit News as possible successors.
Peter Secchia, a former U.S. ambassador to Italy, was also named.
However, Terry Denbow, vice president of university relations for Michigan State University, said the university has not announced any post-McPherson plans.
The names published were based on speculation, Denbow said.
"I don't know how you can be a candidate when there isn't a search," Denbow said.
Derek Hall, UVSC spokesman, was unaware that Sederburg was rumored to be high on a list of possible replacements at MSU. He wasn't surprised, however.
Sederburg, who earned his master's and doctorate degrees at MSU, remains a prominent figure in Michigan higher-education and political circles.
He taught at MSU and other Michigan colleges while serving as a state senator representing East Lansing for 12 years. Afterward, he served as president of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., for nine years.
A former colleague may have suggested Sederburg as a possible candidate and that is why the newspaper listed his name, Hall said.
To be a candidate, a presidential-search committee would need to contact Sederburg. Sederburg said no one contacted him prior to publication of the Sunday story.
The way he found out he was named as a possible candidate was through an e-mail that mentioned he was in the paper.
Since, the rumor has been published in three other Michigan newspapers, said Sederburg, who tried to clarify during a radio interview on a Michigan radio station that it was just a rumor.
Sederburg said he has no plans to leave UVSC.
If he was offered a chance to be a candidate, however, Sederburg said he would "consider it" because he has strong ties to MSU.
"I can't deny that it is kind of flattering," Sederburg said.
E-mail: jdoria@desnews.com