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U. of Utah Selects First Non-Mormon Chief
The New York Times

June 27, 1991

SALT LAKE CITY, June 26 — The University of Utah has selected the first non-Mormon president in its 141-year history, Arthur K. Smith, now the provost at the University of South Carolina and a former vice president of the State University of New York at Binghamton.

The Utah Board of Regents announced today that Dr. Smith, 53 years old, would become the university's 12th president, succeeding Chase N. Peterson, who announced one year ago that he would retire at the end of the 1990-91 academic year.

Dr. Peterson's eight-year tenure was marked by a controversy over the integrity of cold-fusion research carried out there by B. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann. Amid that controversy, Dr. Peterson admitted that what he had billed as a $500,000 anonymous donation to the university's cold fusion research center had actually been a transfer he authorized from the university's own research foundation.

Also, Dr. Peterson was criticized for being forced to return a $15 million donation to the medical center after protests from doctors faculty and students over Dr. Peterson's promising the donor, James L. Sorenson, that the center would be renamed for him.

Dr. Smith, an Episcopalian, will assume the presidency of the 23,500-student university by Sept. 1, at a salary of $130,000, the university said. Among nine state colleges and universities in Utah, the only other non-Mormon president is Kerry Romesburg of Utah Valley Community College in Provo.

Since 1988, Dr. Smith has been at the University of South Carolina, where he was provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. For most of last year, however, he was interim president of South Carolina's nine-campus system, replacing James B. Holderman, who resigned in June 1990 amid charges of overspending and who last month pleaded guilty to using his position to earn illegal compensation.

Before going to South Carolina, Dr. Smith was vice president for administration at the State University of New York at Binghamton, serving as the chief budget and financial officer.

Dr. Peterson announced his retirement on June 11, 1990, shortly after the faculty senate had approved a resolution questioning his ability to lead the institution because of the crises over cold fusion, the medical center donation and other financial matters.

"The University of Utah has a strong commitment to new knowledge through research," Dr. Smith said. "The cold-fusion experience had some unfortunate aspects, but it flowed from that spirit of entrepreneurism. I don't think we should lose heart or be intimidated in the quest for new knowledge."

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