MOSCOW - (AP and KLEW Staff) University of Idaho President Tim White has been named the chancellor of the University of California at
Riverside.

The University of California Regents made the appointment Thursday. They also approved a pay package for White, but details of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

White told the University of Idaho he was in job discussions with another institution in late April.

The UC Riverside campus is approximately 55 miles outside Los Angeles and includes 17,000 students.

White was named University of Idaho president in 2004, as the university faced budget cuts, faculty turnover, and a financial scandal that stemmed from a failed expansion project in Boise. White suffered three heart attacks in less than two years during his tenure as president.


He sent the following message to the university community on Thursday:

Dear Friends,

I have informed Governor Butch Otter, State Board of Education President Milford Terrell and the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho of my decision to resign as President of the University of Idaho. Earlier today, the Regents of the University of California appointed me as Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside. I will begin the chancellorship this fall.

It has been a great honor to lead Idaho's flagship public research university for these past, very rewarding four years. I will forever be humbled and honored to have had the special privilege of being part of this enduring and noble University. You have been supportive and encouraging in our work together, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

I reached this decision only after careful consideration, with family and friends, of many personal and professional factors. My wife Karen and I will hold a fond place in our hearts for the University of Idaho and its inspiring students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. We have also become very fond of Idaho itself, and the many communities that are served by this great University.

I have every confidence that the stunning, positive momentum of this University will continue unabated as it goes through a presidential transition that will attract a pool of distinguished national academic leaders. Initially, the Regents will decide on an interim appointee, and I will work with that person for a seamless transition. Thereafter, the Board will conduct a national search for the University's seventeenth president.

I am proud of the broad, ambitious and aspirational agenda that we embarked on. The people of the University of Idaho have undergone a tremendous, transformative renewal, returning integrity, transparency, trust and optimism to a place that deserves no less.

We have laughed together, cried together and done great things together.

The University is making great strides in its pursuit of even greater academic excellence. We attract gifted undergraduate and graduate students, confer the most degrees, and have the fastest completion rate and the largest research portfolio in Idaho. Exit interviews indicate high marks for the student experience here, and the deep loyalty and fellowship among University of Idaho alumni is testament to the special nature of being a Vandal.

We have attracted and retained many talented academic and administrative leaders, as well as gifted faculty and staff. From 2005 through 2008, we raised approximately $72 million in private gifts because of the dedication of our visionary and generous alumni and friends.

Progress on the Strategic Action Plan; investments in multidisciplinary endeavors that truly matter for the future of the state, nation and world - including Water of the West, Building Sustainable Communities, Bioregional Planning and Community Design, and Biological Applications of Nanotechnology; achieving excellence through increased diversity; implementing a stable, transparent and innovative finance and budget system; laying a path for greater success through philanthropy; increasing opportunities for meaningful service learning experiences; and introducing the Operation Education Scholarship program to Idaho and the nation are achievements we all should be proud of.

The establishment of a capital improvement plan and commitments to move forward on key projects, such as the Kibbie Dome renovation, are important for the University's next century. We have reignited institutional pride through conducting university-wide commencement ceremonies and by re-establishing the rich tradition of Campus Day. Boldly reintroducing the clear and compelling University of Idaho brand in the marketplace of higher education through a sophisticated multi-media marketing effort has paid dividends. Enrollment management has taken on new sophistication and importance these last years. The vitality of our creative and performing arts community, the emerging strengths of our athletic program and the increasing engagement of alumni and stakeholders are all points of enormous pride.

We have renewed and improved our commitment to serve the state's Native American and Hispanic communities. We re-established the College of Art and Architecture, and helped mediate a settlement to the significant litigation involving the University and the Water Center project in Boise. We received accreditation by both our academic and athletic accrediting bodies. We encouraged a transformation of the University of Idaho Foundation as a money management and acquisition enterprise, and improved the clarity of the relationships between and autonomy of the University and Foundation. We spoke out on the issue of evolution and our curriculum, and took stands on issues of weapons on campus and other social concerns. We provided pro bono educational opportunities to ten students in the days after the Katrina disaster. We are a leading partner in the establishment of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies and the Idaho Center for Livestock and Environmental Studies. We made progress on our faculty and staff compensation relative to national peers.

The University of Idaho is classified nationally by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education as one of just five universities in the Inland and Pacific Northwest recognized for high or very high research activity. We are favorably ranked by many national publications, and are the proud recipient of the National Medal of Arts for the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival - the only public university ever to receive such recognition.

While the University community has achieved so much these past four years, there is still much to accomplish. Indeed, a great university never reaches equilibrium. There is need to:
* attract private and public resources for our future ambitions - and Campaign Idaho: Silver and Bold must be supported and nurtured;
* grow our research and creative activity enterprise; and
* work with state leadership to design a governance structure that allows the University of Idaho to be more competitive on the national stage, in order to advance Idaho.

Enormous dividends will come as the national competitiveness and visibility of our graduate programs increases. Our innovative and cost effective partnership to fulfill our statewide mission in medical education with the high quality WWAMI program, as well as our bold plan to fuel Idaho's future with improved opportunities in public high quality legal education will require continued emphasis, effort and support.

The New Era of the University of Idaho is firmly established. Education, here and around the world, is the beacon of hope that will not only sustain us, but enrich us as a society. It is important to continue to educate the public and Idaho's political system of the vital nature of our work. It is vital for the emerging economy of the "New Idaho," for facing the challenges to our environment, and for making individual and societal gains in this increasingly complex and uncertain world.

I thank you so much for all you have done to support me and my family, the University of Idaho, and my presidency. I extend thanks as well to my wife Karen and my boys for their support and encouragement. While Karen and I will deeply miss the University of Idaho and its people, we now look forward to making new friends and discovering new opportunities as we lead a growing and aspirational campus of the University of California.