UW board to name search panel, interim president

The UW Board of Regents will soon appoint a search committee to find the university's 31st president.

President Mark Emmert announced on Tuesday he would be leaving Nov. 1 to become president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

When the regents hired him six years ago, Emmert said the UW job would be "my last stop" in a career that had landed him in executive positions across the country.

Board Chairman Herb Simon said Tuesday the regents would name an interim president before Emmert leaves.

"We recognize that the NCAA presidency is a unique opportunity," Simon said. "It is the only organization of its kind, national in scope, and we feel the only type of opportunity that could possibly lure Mark away from his alma mater. The nation's gain is our loss."

Phyllis Wise, UW provost and executive vice president, has long served as Emmert's second in command. Many would consider her a potential candidate for the top job.

Wise commended Emmert for the range of his accomplishments under "difficult budgetary times."

He never lost sight, she said, of the "mission of a public research university: to provide the richest learning experience to students regardless of their ability to pay."

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com