The four-year USU president has been named president of State University of New York at Albany, a position he will assume Feb. 1.

"It's a little bit sad to walk away," Hall said Wednesday in a telephone interview from New York City, after meeting with the SUNY board of trustees. "But I'm excited about the opportunity."

This isn't the first top university job Hall was recruited for. He was a runner-up earlier this year at the University of Tennessee. SUNY search-committee members contacted him about four months ago, and although he initially told them he was not interested, trustees visited him in Logan.

"At the end of the process, they were very persuasive," he said.

Also, he said a major factor in his decision was the chance to be closer to his wife Phyllis' East Coast family.

SUNY is the nation's largest comprehensive university system, combining 64 campuses that educate more than 413,000 students in 6,688 degree and certificate programs. The Albany campus - one of four designated SUNY centers - emphasizes the humanities, social sciences and arts. Hall called it "a national leader" in public policy and human services.

But the icing on the cake, he said, is the Albany school's diversified portfolio - supported by $1 billion in public and private investments - that includes programs in nanotechnology, biotechnology and the molecular study of cancer.

"They're doing something we've pushed hard on" at Utah State, he said. "We've been trying to do exactly this - with some success."

Hall's base salary in Albany will be $280,000 a year - about $50,000 more than he makes at Utah State. He will leave the Logan campus at a still-to-be-determined date next month.

While Utah higher education officials were disappointed to learn about Hall's decision, no one seemed shocked.

"Someone with his abilities is going to be known as a 'commodity,' " said Stan Albrecht, USU executive vice president and provost - who has Hall's vote as a potential successor.

Hall's leaving "wasn't a question of 'if.' It was a question of 'when,' " Albrecht said.

And those sentiments about Hall extend beyond academia.

"I told people that when he first got here, with his talents and ambition, it would not be surprising if he left soon," said Logan Mayor Doug Thompson. "Frankly, USU, Logan and Cache Valley are better off for his time here, without question."

Hall is a longtime history and law professor who still taught classes while serving as president. Also an author and a seasoned administrator, he has been lauded for both on- and off-campus work.

He said he is proud of USU's diversity and openness, its ramped up research dollars and the empowerment women achieved during his tenure.

Among accomplishments listed by colleagues and city officials is a revitalized "Innovation Campus" in USU's North Logan research park. He also is credited with helping win approval and financing for an instrument-landing system at the Cache Valley Airport.

While Hall accomplished much of what he set out to do, he said he was frustrated that he couldn't do more to raise salaries for faculty and staff.

"This is the outstanding issue for Utah State's future. It's a human-capital issue, and the state needs to step up and invest in these people," he said.

"We've lost way too many good people. And without that salary support, we're going to lose even more."

Derek Mason, USU Faculty Senate president-elect, said Hall has "charted a course for us that will keep us going forward." And Tagg Archibald, student-body executive vice president, praised Hall for his ability to listen to students and implement their ideas.

"He's been very open with us. He comes and gives us the straight facts - no baloney," Archibald said.

At SUNY-Albany, Hall will succeed interim President John Ryan. The Associated Press reported that Ryan stepped in after President Karen Hitchcock resigned in October 2003 - "amid reports of discord between her and SUNY Chancellor Robert King, a longtime friend and former budget director of Gov. George Pataki."

Dave Henahan, a spokesman for King, said, "We are very pleased and excited to have an individual of Kermit Hall's character, intelligence and accomplishment join the State University of New York."

Utah's Board of Regents Chairman Nolan Karras said decisions about a USU interim president and the search process will be determined within the next two weeks. Regents also must fill presidential posts at Salt Lake Community College, Dixie College in St. George and Utah College of Applied Technology.

"This is coming at me like a fire hose," Karras said. "We're happy for [Hall], but we're sorry he's leaving."

jravitz@sltrib.com

On Hall's watch

During President Kermit Hall's four-year tenure, Utah State University:

* Boosted freshmen retention from 61 percent to 75 percent.

* Admitted students with higher standardized test scores and high school grade-point averages.

* Launched a controversial plan to limit the tenure of deans and department heads to six years.

* Increased research-grant proposals by 32 percent and National Science Foundation expenditures by 29 percent over past three years.

* Built a new heating plant as well as a state-of-the-art engineering building. (Construction currently is under way on a recital hall, a new Merrill Library, Edith Bowen Laboratory School for elementary students and football stadium improvements.)

* Announced its acceptance into the Western Athletic Conference.

* Revived the women's competitive basketball program.

* Staged its first-ever December graduation.

* Opened an office in downtown Salt Lake City.

* Added more than 100 new faculty, advisers and counselors.

* Raised more than $4 million additional endowed dollars for scholarships and increased resources for graduate fellowships.

* Landed $8 million for a new recital hall, the largest single gift in school history.