EPHRAIM — Scott Wyatt, an attorney, state legislator and longtime member of the Snow College Board of Trustees, was appointed as Snow's president Thursday.

"This is the greatest honor of my life," Wyatt told the Utah State Board of Regents, which was meeting at Snow.

Nodding toward his wife, Kathy, who is from Ephraim and is a Snow graduate, he said, "We won't let you down. We'll work our guts out."

Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Kendall said that often, being president of a small college is primarily a stepping stone to a bigger college presidency.

In contrast, he said, Wyatt has a "deep affection for a place and a community." For him, Kendall said, "this is certainly not a stepping stone; this is a destination."

Wyatt's predecessor, Michael Benson, did, in fact, use the Snow College presidency to propel himself on to the helm of Southern Utah University.

Wyatt was selected from an initial field of about 30 applicants. A 22-member search committee that included regents, trustees, faculty, students, staff and Central Utah community leaders, narrowed the field to six finalists. Regents spent much of the day interviewing the finalists and about three hours deliberating about the selection.

Wyatt said becoming a college president has been a major focus of his life since he was student body president at Utah State University in 1985.

Some of the most influential people in his life, he said, were the university's president and vice president for student affairs. As he met with them and talked about campus issues and projects.

"I felt I was changing things. It was a thrilling experience. I resolved to get back to it."

After graduating from the University of Utah Law School, he returned to Logan and began private practice with the firm of Barrett, Daines & Wyatt. That was when Gov. Michael Leavitt asked him if he was interested in serving on a state committee.

"I said, 'Yes, I'd like to be on the Snow College Board of Trustees.' So he appointed me,'" Wyatt said.

He served for 12 years, from 1995 to 2003, and was chairman from 2001-05.

Professionally, after three years in private law practice, he ran for Cache County attorney, and served two terms.

He was the prosecutor in a sensational case in which Cody Nielsen was sentenced to life in prison without parole for abducting, murdering and dismembering the body of teenager Tricia Autrey.

After his stint as county attorney, he returned to his law firm. But, he said, he approached his law practice differently than most lawyers, always with a focus on one day becoming a college president.

On an adjunct basis, he taught courses in education, political science and philosophy at USU. He also taught in the peace officer standards and training program at Bridgerland Applied Technology College, an experience that relates to the Snow job, since he will be in charge of career-technical programs on Snow's Richfield campus.