It was anticlimactic.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m. at Texas A&M, Regent Richard Box proposed a motion to the Board of Regents to name R. Bowen Loftin the sole finalist for the presidency.
The nine-member body, without discussion, unanimously approved the decision.
"I know there was a lot of speculation before Christmas that he was going to be a final pick," said Angie Hill Price, a former Faculty Senate speaker. "So there wasn't a lot of shock. He was believed to be the probable prospect.
"He's been good at making peace on campus and quieting things down. He makes people feel he has the best interests of the university at heart."
The measured and analytical interim president of the 49,000-student university calmed the academic community that was enraged following the events surrounding the June resignation of former Texas A&M President Elsa Murano.
Meanwhile, he executed the wishes of the Board of Regents on everything from belt-tightening to publicly supporting changes announced last week that more closely align administrative functions of Texas A&M and the 11-university A&M System that governs it.
"I love Texas A&M, what can I say," the Aggie Class of 1971 graduate said, smiling sheepishly in front of a crowd of reporters minutes after the decision. "Our priorities for the last seven months have been to make certain we have a clear message both internally and externally that Texas A&M is strong, resilient and moving ahead on its Vision 2020 plan."
A 21-day waiting period is required before the appointment is official.
"What we needed to do is steer the ship in the right direction," said Board of Regents Chairman Morris Foster. Loftin did that, he said.
The new president, known for wearing a bow tie, has a tough road ahead. State-mandated budget cuts loom. And the departure of Murano is not yet forgotten.
Loftin had served as the chief of Texas A&M's Galveston branch campus until June, when he was selected to serve as the flagship College Station campus' chief the day Murano resigned.
Third search in seven years
The search began in July, when Board of Regents Chairman Morris Foster convened a 15-person advisory committee -- one member would later be added -- to hunt for the leader.
Richard Box, an Austin dentist who also is a regent, was selected to chair the committee. Though he was a former treasurer to the campaign fund of Gov. Rick Perry -- whose ties and influence to the alma mater he graduated from in 1972 are lamented by the academic community -- Box's leadership during the search was widely praised by fellow committee members.
Box said they whittled down the search from a pool of more than 300 to two names forwarded to the board.
"Dr. Loftin was able to prove his leadership," Box said after the vote, saying that Loftin's job as interim president factored into the regents' decision "quite a bit."
Officials did not release details about the second candidate. A third candidate dropped out last week. That applicant was an executive vice president and provost of a prestigious Eastern university, Box said.
All members of the search committee signed confidentiality agreements not to reveal candidate names or identifying information. The move, Box said, helps attract higher quality applicants since they wouldn't worry about their current jobs being damaged.
The search was the third for a Texas A&M president in the past seven years. The 2002 search led to the hiring of former Central Intelligence Agency director Robert Gates, who is now secretary of defense. The 2007 search resulted in the selection of Murano, a former vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Both searches raised concerns from faculty members about the process. In both cases, regents considered candidates that were not the choices of the respective search committees. Foster gave assurances that the new A&M president would have to go through the search committee.
Coming off a controversy
Murano resigned a day before regents were expected to take action on her employment status. It came less than three weeks after Texas A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney told The Eagle in May that combining his position with the A&M presidency was one of several cost-cutting measures under consideration. He later said the idea was never seriously considered.
Days later, a largely negative performance review of Murano by McKinney was released in response to an open-records request. It showed tension between the two leaders in various areas, including research.
Murano went forward with a national search headed by a search committee for vice president for research that resulted in the hiring of Jeffrey Seemann. McKinney wanted her to instead hire Brett Giroir. The chancellor created a new position for him in the A&M System called vice chancellor for research.
On Thursday, McKinney said in a statement that he was pleased with the board's decision, noting Loftin's response in Galveston when Hurricane Ike hit.
"His outstanding leadership at the Galveston campus during a period of tremendous growth and major challenges was highly impressive," McKinney said.
A new president
Loftin was well-regarded by every major group that a university president has to deal with -- regents, students, former students, administrators, faculty and staff.
Following his selection as interim president, his first actions included meeting with various groups to alleviate concerns surrounding the departure of Murano. The meetings didn't stop.
He has said his primary goal during his interim presidency was to alleviate the acrimony, which included hundreds of concerned e-mails sent by faculty members to Robert Bednarz, speaker of the Faculty Senate, and a resolution of "no confidence" in McKinney.
Loftin was born near Hearne and grew up in Navasota, about 20 miles from the Texas A&M campus. He also holds a master's and doctorate from Rice University.
He has two grown children, three grandchildren and a wife, Karin, who works as an associate biosafety officer at Texas A&M University, the same role she had at the Galveston branch campus, Loftin said.
Loftin often touts his time leading a faculty senate. He noted that when he was selected on June 15 to become interim president, his first action after meeting with McKinney and Foster was to have dinner with faculty leadership.
"I wanted to reassure them that the university was not going to fall apart," he said, "that we were a strong, resilient institution. ... And that kind of persistent focus on listening [and offering] reassurance paid off very quickly."
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