Forsee to be named new University of Missouri president

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Former Sprint Nextel Corp. Chief Executive Officer and Cape Girardeau native Gary Forsee is the next University of Missouri president, sources familiar with the search process have told The Associated Press.

Curators will meet Thursday morning in Columbia to resolve the hiring's final details before introducing the university's 22nd president that afternoon, the school announced Wednesday.

Several curators contacted by the AP declined to comment. However, two sources identified Forsee, 57, as the incoming president. The sources asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of the search.

Forsee did not immediately respond to messages left at his Jackson County home.

Forsee is a 1972 graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla and serves on his alma mater's board of trustees.

The Kansas City area-resident was ousted as chairman, president and CEO of Sprint Nextel, the nation's third-largest wireless carrier, in October.

He resigned under pressure from board members and shareholders unhappy with the company's plummeting stock price and a sizable loss of customers since the 2005 merger of Sprint and Nextel. Forsee reportedly received a severance of more than $55 million.

He replaces Elson Floyd, who left in April for the top job at Washington State University.

Gordon Lamb has led the Missouri system since Floyd's departure. Lamb is a former president of Northeastern Illinois and former acting chancellor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Forsee's hiring caps a yearlong effort to replace the charismatic Floyd, who elevated the public profile of the Missouri presidency to become the state's foremost advocate for higher education.

Joan Dean, a member of the 19-person advisory committee that interviewed Forsee and at least six other presidential finalists, said Forsee has that same ability to engage political, civic and business leaders in Missouri. Dean emphasized that she wasn't able to confirm Forsee's selection but offered her impressions from a mid-November interview.

"He has an excellent working knowledge of state government and state officials," said Dean, an English professor at the system's Kansas City campus.

A day after the private interview with the advisory panel, Forsee traveled to Jefferson City for a Capitol sit-down with Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican.

The nine curators -- political appointees chosen by Blunt or his predecessor, Democrat Bob Holden -- previously hoped to hire New Jersey businessman Terry Sutter.

Instead, Sutter rejected the offer in June to become chief operating officer of a Florida steel manufacturer. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, a Columbia Republican, was also a finalist during the initial search but was not offered the job.

The curators' desire for a business leader to preside over an academic enterprise has worried some faculty members, who have suggested that such a leader is poorly prepared to step into the unique culture of college campuses.

But Dean said that Forsee's lack of academic expertise could benefit faculty if he acknowledges that absence while working to bridge the gap.

"I think he will make a sincere effort to find out how the university works," she said.