BOULDER — Phil DiStefano, academic chief of the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus, will take over as interim chancellor, and the university will launch an internal search for candidates to serve at the top post permanently.
In an interview Thursday, DiStefano said he will more than likely throw his name in the hat as a candidate for the permanent chancellor post.
“Whether I serve in this position for a month, a year or five years, I will do my utmost to move the campus forward,” Di Stefano told CU’s Board of Regents at its Thursday meeting.
G.P. “Bud” Peterson, current chancellor of the Boulder campus, will take the reins next month as president of Georgia Tech University. He served as Boulder chancellor for 2½ years.
Leading up to the announcement, CU president Bruce Benson met with employees, students, alumni and donors to hear suggestions about who should lead the Boulder campus. He said DiStefano was highly recommended.
“I have great confidence in him and his abilities,” Benson said. “He is a man that I trust completely. And that’s an important word for me.”
Benson said his chief of staff, Leonard Dinegar, will lead the search for a permanent chancellor.
“If we don’t find an outstanding candidate internally, which I believe we will, then we’ll go national,” Benson said.
DiStefano served as interim chancellor for 17 months before Peterson took the job.
He first stepped into the post in January 2005 after Richard Byyny resigned amid a football-recruiting scandal. In April 2006, DiStefano announced he would not be a candidate for the permanent post.
Regents praised DiStefano for his steadfast leadership through a rocky period. During his tenure, he decided to fire embattled professor Ward Churchill.
