MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF REGENTS NAMES INTERIM PRESIDENT

MURRAY, Ky. -- Ronald J. Kurth, who succeeded Kala Stroup as president of Murray State University, will step down today after leading the university for the past four years.

Today is Kurth's last working day at the school, but he will retain the title of president until June 30, when his contract expires, under an agreement worked out with the Board of Regents.

Provost James L. Booth has been named acting president while the search continues for a new president, said Joe Hedges, manager of the school's news bureau.

Booth was appointed at a late-evening meeting Tuesday of the Board of Regents. He will begin serving as acting president on Friday.

Booth, 53, has been at Murray State University since 1976, when he joined the faculty in the department of speech communication and theater.

Booth previously served as acting president for a year between the departure of Stroup and the hiring of Kurth.

Kurth began his duties as president of Murray State in July 1990, the same time that Stroup took office as president of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

Stroup served as president of Murray State from 1983 to 1989.

Kurth will be moving to a new job as dean of academic affairs at the Air War College in Montgomery, Ala. Kurth begins his new duties July 24.

The search for a new president at MSU is well under way. Three finalists from a pool of 125 candidates visited the campus this week for a series of interviews, Hedges said.

The three finalists are G. David Gearhart, 41, senior vice president for development and university relations at Pennsylvania State University; Robert Altenkirch, 45, dean of the College of Engineering at Mississippi State University; and A. James Kerley, 43, president of Hopkinsville (Ky.) Community College.

Other finalists are expected to be announced soon, said Hedges, pointing out that the whole search process "is very much an open-ended situation."