University chancellor says he won't seek top job

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- University of Missouri-Columbia chancellor Richard Wallace won't seek the university system's top job after current president Manuel Pacheco retires next year.

Wallace made the announcement after a Council on Public Higher Education forum in Jefferson City Tuesday night.

Another top system official, Vice President for Academic Affairs Stephen Lehmkuhle, told the Columbia Daily Tribune that he hasn't decided whether to pursue the job.

The Board of Curators has said it hopes to name Pacheco's successor this year. The president oversees the University's four campuses and extension and outreach programs.

Wallace was made interim chancellor in 1996, and was made permanent in 1997.

Lehmkuhle interviewed for the University of Tennessee president's job in January but was not offered the position. Lehmkuhle said on Thursday that he has applied for similar positions elsewhere but is not being considered for any other jobs.

He said coping with shrinking financial support from the state has kept him from thinking about the decision of whether to pursue the president's job.