The USU vacancy now means regents must find presidents for four Utah institutions, including Dixie State College, the Utah College of Applied Technology and Salt Lake Community College, where the search for a new president is in its final stages.

Hall said he finally decided to pursue the New York job after UAlbany officials visited him at USU and after learning about the "profound" public and private investments being made in the New York school.

Companies like IBM, Sematech and Tokyo Electron have made huge investments in UAlbany, considered a leader for its research into nanotechnology, nanoscience and biotechnology, according to Hall. IBM alone has put $100 million into UAlbany over the past two years, Hall said.

A new building, he added, is under construction on the Albany campus and will soon house one of the "premier" molecular cancer research centers in the United States.

The new job, Hall said, means his wife, Phyllis, will be closer to her family on the East Coast. The job also represents a move back to academic roots for Hall, who earned his master's degree from Syracuse University. And scholarly journals have published several of Hall's writings on 19th century politics in New York.

While at USU, Hall said he is most proud of efforts to raise the academic profile of students entering the school and USU's ability to retain students.

"I really do feel we've opened Utah State to all political views," he said in an interview. Since Hall arrived in 2000, he has seen students debate issues of affirmative action, gay rights and diversity like no other place in the country.

Among many accomplishments, Hall will likely be remembered for things like donating $10,000 of his own money to start a scholarship fund, now worth around $850,000.

Hall also spent much of his first seven months in Utah milking cows in each of the state's 29 counties, a public relations move to help highlight USU's agricultural heritage.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com