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CORVALLIS - The Oregon State Board of Higher Education on Friday named Tim White interim president of Oregon State University. White has been provost and executive vice president at OSU for nearly three years.

He succeeds Paul Risser, who announced his resignation earlier this month to accept a position as chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education.

Richard Jarvis, chancellor of the Oregon University System, said White had tremendous support from the OSU campus community. Jarvis and Jim Lussier, president of the State Board of Higher Education, spent Monday speaking with students, staff, faculty and administrators at the university.

"Oregon State University is a strong, vibrant university with a lot of momentum," Jarvis said, "and the overwhelming sentiment we encountered was to select an interim president that would continue pushing the institution forward."

White will begin making the transition to interim president during the next month, Jarvis said. Risser is scheduled to begin his job as Oklahoma's chancellor on Jan. 6.

"The next year will be a very challenging one for Oregon State University and I feel a personal commitment to continue the work that we've begun," White said. "I care very deeply about this university, and especially the wonderful people who go to school here, who work here, or who associate with the campus in so many different ways."

White will assume his role as interim president at a time when Oregon's economy is faltering, budgets for state agencies are being cut, and the state faces new political leadership in the Governor's Office and legislature.

On the other hand, he points out, Oregon State University is involved in a number of initiatives that have the potential to revolutionize the 134-year-old institution and increase its impact in the new century.

"For the past several months, more than 400 students, staff and faculty have been engaged in a campus-wide effort called OSU 2007 that is examining everything we do as a university, from our academic structure and curriculum, to the student experience and business operations," White said. "The university also is involved with some exciting campaigns, including creating a top engineering program, broadening our veterinary medicine program to better serve Oregonians, and expanding Reser Stadium.

"There certainly are some challenges looming," White said, "but there are a lot of opportunities facing us as well."

Lussier said the process for selecting an interim president began with Monday's campus visit. He appointed three state board members - Kerry Barnett, Leslie Lehmann and Phyllis Wustenberg - to consult with Jarvis and evaluate potential candidates. Chancellor Jarvis recommended to the full state board the appointment of White and the board approved the selection during a special meeting Friday afternoon.

OSU President Paul Risser praised the selection of White, who has been "an integral part of OSU's many successes."

"Tim is a very bright and capable leader with a high degree of integrity," Risser said. "He has been, and no doubt will continue to be, a very strong advocate for student success and for faculty and staff excellence. His appointment is really good news for Oregon State University."

Lussier said that he and Jarvis "heard many of the same recurring themes" during their visit to the Oregon State campus. "Stay the course on OSU 2007, continue the capital campaigns, select someone who knows the campus and Oregon, and be mindful of the importance of legislative relations.

"The general consensus is that Oregon State University is strong, stable and confident about its program and its vision," Lussier added. "Interim President White has our full support to continue the university's powerful agenda."

White came to OSU as dean of the College of Health and Human Performance (now Health and Human Sciences) in January of 1996, after serving for five years as professor and chair of the Department of Human Biodynamics at the University of California-Berkeley. He previously was on the faculty of the University of Michigan, where he spent 13 years, including stints as chair of the Department of Movement Science, and research scientist in the Institute of Gerontology.

He was named OSU's interim provost and executive vice president by Risser in January of 2000, and six months later was appointed to the position on a full-time basis.

As provost, he was instrumental in helping the university launch the OSU 2007 process and he played a key role in helping Oregon State begin the state's first branch campus with last year's opening of the OSU-Cascades Campus in Bend.

White is a nationally known researcher in the field of exercise science. His research career has focused on skeletal muscle plasticity, with a particular interest in investigating the adaptive responses of aging and regenerating muscle to physical activity.

White is a co-author of "Exercise Physiology - Human Bioenergetics and its Applications," which has been called the definitive textbook in exercise physiology.

His leadership in national organizations is extensive. In 1995, White served as president of the American College of Sports Medicine, the preeminent interdisciplinary medical and scientific society for exercise science and sports medicine. He also has served as president of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

A 1970 graduate of California State University at Fresno, White has a master's degree from California State University-Hayward and a Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley.

White's tenure as interim president is expected to last at least through the summer of 2003, according to Lussier. The Oregon State Board of Higher Education will begin a national search for a new president during the next few weeks.