Central Michigan University president to head VCU

A university president known for his quick rise through the academic ranks will become the next president of Virginia Commonwealth University.

The VCU board of visitors last night unanimously selected Michael Rao, the 42-year-old president of Central Michigan University, to succeed Eugene P. Trani on July 1.

"He and VCU are about the same age, and they are both now just hitting their stride," said Edward H. Bersoff, the board member who was chairman of the presidential search committee.

Rao and his wife, Monica, were greeted with a standing ovation as they were introduced to faculty, staff and students who crowded into the VCU meeting center to hear the board's decision.

Rao had spent the day on campus meeting with small groups from the university community. He said his meeting with students had been "absolutely affirming for me. This is the right place to be."

Rao was just 33 when he became president of CMU in 2000. He already was one the nation's youngest college presidents in 1998 when he was named chancellor of Montana State University-Northern. Before moving to Montana he had served as president of Mission College in Santa Clara, Calif. since 1994.

Like VCU, Central Michigan University is a large public, research university. Located in Mount Pleasant, it is the fourth largest of Michigan's 15 public universities, with about 28,000 students. VCU has more than 32,000 students.

Rao will serve as president of VCU and its health system and will be a tenured professor in the School of Education. He will receive a salary of $488,500. Of that $176,113 will be paid from state funds and $312,387 will come from VCU Health System and private funds.

His total compensation package also includes $66,500 in deferred compensation, a $60,000 housing allowance and use of a car, all paid by private funds. Separate from the compensation package, Rao will receive a signing bonus of $275,000, paid by private funds. He will be required to repay $200,000 if he leaves the university within five years.

In December, Rao's contract at CMU was extended until 2016. He said last night that extension was made before he was interviewed by VCU in January.

Rao, the son of a physician from India, was born in Boston but grew up in Florida after his father's death. His wife is a professional watercolorist and graphic designer. They have two sons, Miguel, 9, and Aiden, born May 25.

A graduate of the University of South Florida with a doctorate from the University of Florida, Rao will become VCU's fifth president.

Trani, who attended the announcement yesterday, will stay on as a distinguished professor at VCU when he leaves the job he has held since 1990. In July, he underwent quintuple coronary-artery bypass surgery and announced a month later he would leave the presidency a year early for health reasons.

Trani's health crisis came in the midst of a challenging summer for VCU -- an investigation into the improper awarding of a bachelor's degree to Richmond's former police chief and ethics concerns over university research for Philip Morris USA.

"Most universities have seen troubled times," Rao said when asked about those issues.

Rao praised Trani's legacy and the "fantastic level of diversity" at VCU.

He spoke of the great potential of universities to transform the lives of students by "creating successes for them that they may not have dreamed of" until they arrived on campus.

VCU Rector Thomas Rosenthal said the three adjectives that were the most used to describe Rao were "energetic, intelligent and transformative."

Dan Ream, the faculty senate president who served on the search committee, said committee members were impressed by Rao's communication skills. The amount of knowledge he had about VCU "was just stunning to us."

VCU senior Jibran Muhammad, president of the student government association, described Rao as an exciting choice and said the appointment "came as a great relief to those of us who met him this afternoon."

"Replacing a man of Dr. Trani's stature is obviously a tall order, and it seems as if the presidential search committee hit a home run."

He said he hoped the new president would bring football to VCU.

But Rao addressed that issue cautiously last night, saying it was not something to jump into too quickly.

But he noted CMU's success -- it's a member of the Mid-American Conference -- and quipped "VCU currently has an undefeated football team."

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.