Utah State University provost Stan Albrecht was named the school's new president Tuesday, replacing Kermit Hall, who's leaving the Logan institution to take the top job at New York's state university at Albany.
Albrecht, who takes office Feb. 1, becomes the university's 15th president. He will earn $232,000 in the new job.
Regents voted unanimously to give the job to Albrecht, a favorite among both faculty and students. The announcement was met with thunderous applause from students, faculty and others gathered at a special meeting of the regents.
"This must be a team sport and I'm looking forward to working with each of you," Albrecht said.
Albrecht's selection marks an exception — the first of its kind — to the state's typical practice of conducting a national search to replace an outgoing university president. Albrecht, 61, was picked partly because he had already emerged as a finalist in a national search four years ago, when he competed against Hall for the university's top leadership slot.
Albrecht's appointment was a logical step toward major initiatives, including cooperation with the University of Utah on research projects, fund raising for USU and capital construction, said faculty senate president Janis Boettinger.
Utah State enjoyed national exposure under Hall, and many are interested in how the generally low-key Albrecht will perform.
"Maybe he'll need to have some dynamic individual as the executive vice president," university spokesman John DeVilbiss joked.
An article posted on the university's Web site states that national media mentions of the university have risen dramatically during Hall's tenure. That time also saw the university's freshman retention rate jump from 61 to 75 percent and research-grant proposals increase by 32 percent.
Faculty are confident in Albrecht, Boettinger said.
"Stan Albrecht has vision, but he also has the support of the faculty to carry his vision through to completion," Boettinger said.
Albrecht's appointment now leaves Utah with three college president searches — at Salt Lake Community College, the Utah College of Applied Technology and Dixie State College.
After Hall announced his departure, it was the first time since the creation of the Utah higher education system 35 years ago that the system was searching for four college presidents at virtually the same time.