This guy may be on the Weefer Replacement short list. After the great success with Timmy and Wyatt I would say it's highly likely.
CSU president resigns; wants other opportunities
Associated Press
Originally published 01:23 p.m., November 6, 2008
Updated 01:23 p.m., November 6, 2008
FORT COLLINS -- With 1½ years left on his contract, Colorado State University President Larry Penley abruptly tendered his resignation Tuesday saying he wants to pursue other leadership positions in higher education.
In his resignation letter, Penley said his resignation will be effective Nov. 30 and it did not explain why he was resigning in the middle of the fall semester.
Penley, who also resigned his post as chancellor and professor at CSU, previously served as professor of management and dean of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
He took over leadership of the CSU system on Aug. 1, 2003, and was earning $389,000 a year, said CSU Board of Governors' Chair Douglas Jones.
"It's the chance to move on with dignity, at the top of his game. That's kind of what he shared with me," Jones said. "Why he's leaving at this moment, I really can't say."
Jones did not immediately know when Penley's contract started.
Provost and senior vice president Tony Frank, who has been at the school for 16 years, will serve as interim president.
Jones said they will conduct a nationwide search to replace Penley and that he expects Frank to be one of the top candidates.
During his five years at the school, Penley increased closer ties with federal research partners, statewide businesses and key industries and began an effort to focus CSU's curriculum on the environment to prepare students for the emerging green economy. In July he announced the creation of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability that will eventually offer its majors and certificates in environmental sustainability.
He also launched an effort to build a $100 million to $300 million wind farm for the school with the goal of generating all its electrical power from it within eight years.
"I am proud of its recent progress as a major research university that serves a diverse student population with high quality degree programs," Penley said in his letter.
In 2005, Penley also instituted a number of changes to address a campus culture surrounding alcohol following the death of 19-year-old Samantha Spady, who died of alcohol poisoning the previous year.
