"We took a look at where the university is and where it might be in five or eight years, and we saw in Pat Gamble someone who can really manage a large, complex organization and move it to a higher place," said Board Chair Cynthia Henry.
Gamble, 64, has held the position at the railroad, which is state-owned, since 2001. He retired as a four-star general in 2001 from the U.S. Air Force.
The 11-member board picked him over two other finalists: John Pugh, chancellor of the University of Alaska Southeast and a former state Health and Social Services commissioner; and Dr. Lisa Rossbacher, president of Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga., part of the University System of Georgia. About 30 people applied for the job, Henry said.
Gamble will replace retiring UA President Mark Hamilton, who has been in the job since 1998 and who also had been a high-ranking military officer. The transition is scheduled for June.
"The university has had a real good run," Gamble said in a telephone interview. "One of the first things is to go in there and preserve what is being done right and make sure I don't do anything to upset that process."
Gamble has a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Texas A&M University and a master of business administration degree from Auburn University.
ACADEMICS VS. OPERATIONS
Some faulted his lack of academic experience during the selection process -- often a university president has a Ph.D. and comes from a teaching background. But Henry said the board heard from faculty, staff and students that the president didn't have to come through the academic ranks. The position is not a teaching position. Academics are supervised by a school's provost. "President Hamilton really opened that door," she said.
Hamilton, who came directly from the U.S. Army, where he was a two-star general, was the first non-academic person in the post in the university's history.
As for Gamble, he says he's been moving in the academic direction for years. It started with his position as the commandant of the U.S. Air Force Academy, who is the second in command of the school and who supervises the operational side of the campus. Since moving to Alaska nine years ago, he has served on various academic boards. He was an adviser to the University of Alaska Anchorage business school, an adviser to the school's aviation technical school, and served on a board at Alaska Pacific University.
"The university is an operating entity much like a business. It has lots of facilities and lots of the same kinds of things like a small city, like a base," he said. "It's different, but it's not anything I haven't seen or done before.
"Then, of course, the most important thing is people. People are people and that's really where the treasure is in the university," he said.
Gamble said he will treat the new job as he has treated others, watching and learning. He likened it to flying a new airplane. "I would go in to run a wing (a military aviation unit) and that wing would have an airplane I hadn't flown before," he said. "So I went to school and learned how to fly it. But all the rest of the wing activities were things that I'd done before."
Hamilton announced his retirement in June. He had been in charge of recruiting efforts nationwide for the U.S. Army when the UA Board selected him UA president.
PROVEN TRACK RECORD
In making its announcement for the new president, a university spokeswoman praised Gamble's tenure at the Alaska Railroad, saying assets tripled to over $860 million and net earnings more than doubled. Before joining the railroad, Gamble was Commander of Pacific Air Forces, responsible for 45,000 people and 400 aircraft, with an annual operating budget of $1.4 billion.
As president of the UA system, Gamble will earn $295,000 a year. In Hamilton's last couple of years, he was making $300,000 with a $70,000 annual bonus for staying through the year. In 1998, the university president's salary was $148,000, according to media reports from the time.
Henry said the board is starting with a slightly lower salary for Gamble given his level of experience. The contract is for three years.
The UA System has 15 campuses across the state. The system includes community colleges, as well as the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage, and the University of Alaska Southeast. Statewide, there are about 32,000 students; about 60 percent attend part time.
The system's current annual operating budget is approximately $820 million.
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