University of Montana Selects GE Executive as Next President

MISSOULA, Mont. — General Electric executive Seth Bodnar has accepted a preliminary offer to become the 18th president of the University of Montana.

The Missoulian reports that Bodnar accepted the offer on Tuesday. The official start date for the new president is Jan. 1.

Bodnar was considered the nontraditional candidate among four finalists. He was the only one without a doctorate and his career is comprised of roughly six years at GE and eight years in the military, instead of a long tenure in higher education.

He’s a Rhodes scholar with two master’s degrees from the University of Oxford in England.

The Montana Board of Regents is tasked with considering his contract in November.

Royce Engstrom, the former president, resigned in December.