When he last served as president, Binghamton University had an enrollment of nearly 10,000 students.

Now, almost 40 years later, Dr. Peter Magrath will return as interim president, ready to guide a much larger University of more than 14,000 into the future.

Magrath was nominated by SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, and upon appointment by the SUNY Board of Trustees, will begin his presidency on July 1.

Magrath was most recently interim president at West Virginia University between 2008 and 2009, and since 2006, he has held the position of senior presidential adviser at The College Board.

He was last in the presidential position at BU from 1972 to 1974.

‘We are so pleased with the return of Peter Magrath to the SUNY family,’ Zimpher said in a press statement. ‘Dr. Magrath is an ideal fit to lead this superb academic institution during a period of transition and growth.’

During his one-year term as interim president, Magrath plans to work on the fundraising campaign that is underway and meet with faculty, students, local council and senior officers to learn what needs to be addressed at BU.

Magrath, who has worked at the Universities of Minnesota, Missouri System and West Virginia, hopes to bring his experience with challenges and opportunities to BU.

‘I think my challenge is a positive one, it’s to make sure that I can get a lot of help from a lot of people and mobilize the many good staff, alumni and students who care about the University to keep the momentum going,’ Magrath said.

According to Magrath, outgoing BU President Lois DeFleur has ‘done a heck of a job,’ and BU has a larger and more positive visibility since she took over back in 1990.

‘My impression of BU is that it is a very good and positively regarded place,’ he said. ‘Whatever the media and public perception are may be all over the map, but I know that this is a good University.’

Magrath plans to make himself accessible to students over the course of the school year, and said that he is ‘eager’ to meet and listen to the Student Association.

He will be working alongside Jean-Pierre Mileur, past dean of Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, who Zimpher appointed to succeed Mary Ann Swain as interim provost.

Swain announced that she will step down as provost June 30, and return to teaching spring 2011 after a semester off.

The search for the new president of BU is still underway, and the search committee, led by the BU Council chairwoman Kathryn Madigan, is working with the search firm of Isaacson, Miller.

The committee will hold open forums for faculty and students at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively on May 24 in room 324 of the New University Union, and for staff at 9 a.m. May 25 at the same location.