JACKSON - Mississippi State University President Malcolm Portera says he isn't shopping for another job, but he's willing to listen to the University of Alabama System's sales pitch.
Portera, who has guided the Starkville campus since 1998, is the leading candidate to replace Tom Meredith as chancellor of the UA System in Tuscaloosa, an influential Alabama lawmaker said Tuesday.
Portera told The Associated Press late Tuesday afternoon that he's "not going to apply for any job," but he confirmed he's been contacted by Alabama officials and would meet with them about the chancellor's post.
He said he had no timeframe.
"That's all I'm going to say," Portera said.
State Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, said members of the UA System board of trustees have indicated to him that they are "highly interested" in Portera returning to Alabama, where he received his doctorate degree and spent 20 years in higher education.
"Y'all hurt me when you took him from us," Rogers, a legislator since 1982 and vice chairman of the Ways and Means Education Fund Committee, said Tuesday. "It's time to get him back. I think we will."
Portera's role as the favorite to lead the UA System's three institutions is no secret in either state. He is well-known for his leadership and economic development savvy.
An editorial in Sunday's editions of The Tuscaloosa News said Alabama trustees "would have to look high and low to find a better candidate."
Meredith, a former University of Mississippi administrator, is leaving Alabama to become chancellor of the University System of Georgia, which comprises 34 institutions.
Meredith makes $237,500 in Alabama. The annual salary for the Georgia job is $330,000.
Portera's base salary is $150,000 a year, and he receives $100,000 more annually from a private MSU foundation.
College Board member Scott Ross of West Point, Portera's hometown, said he didn't think money would be the deciding issue, but he hadn't spoken to Portera about his intentions.
Because of Portera's involvement in Nissan Motor Co.'s ongoing development in Madison County and other projects at MSU and elsewhere, Ross said he felt Portera would stay put for now.
"If he left right now, he would leave some unfinished business," said Ross, a lawyer, State alum and former Mississippi lawmaker. "I'd really be surprised if he goes. He can have more of a direct impact at State than he can as chancellor of the Alabama system."
Portera had retired from a job in the UA System and was working as an economic developer in Tuscaloosa when he took the top job at MSU, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees.
Portera helped lure Mercedes to Alabama and played a prominent role in Mississippi's successful effort last year to recruit Nissan for a $930 million assembly plant in Canton.
J.C. Burns, who led Mississippi's economic development agency until earlier this month, said Portera was "crucially important" in Nissan negotiations and sat with other state officials at the bargaining table.
Burns said Portera's experience from working with Mercedes in Alabama was invaluable. He said the MSU president pitched the engineering and higher-education aspects of the state's program to Nissan representatives.
"He knew all the buttons to push, and they listened intently because he's an authority," Burns said.
Portera also is credited with creating programs that enhanced Alabama's industrial development efforts while working in that state's university system.
"He understands that higher education and economic development go hand in hand better than most," Ross said.
Kellee Reinhart, spokeswoman for the UA System, said Tuesday she was not certain where the board of trustees stood in its search for a new chancellor.
The board meets again Nov. 7-8 in Tuscaloosa.
Copyright 2001, Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
