Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Iowa, was welcomed to the University by the University Board of Regents and community members yesterday morning as she was elected to be the University's 13th president in a motion carried unanimously by the regents.

Coleman, who has been president of Iowa since 1995, will begin her term at the University of Michigan Aug. 1 under a five-year contract set to be finalized at the June regents meeting.

"She will be a strong, creative, experienced, thoughtful and successful president of the University of Michigan," Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor) said. "And let it be said again and again, girls can do math and science."

Regents also praised interim University President B. Joseph White, expressing gratitude and appreciation for his dedication and involvement in keeping the University running smoothly.

"The only thing more challenging than being president of this University would be being interim president," Regent David Brandon (R-Ann Arbor) said.

Added Regent Kathy White (D-Ann Arbor) to White and his wife, Mary: "I'm very impressed at (your) deep commitment ... I am basically speechless," she said.

Though she was officially appointed, Coleman will remain at Iowa for the next two months.

"I have two responsibilities that I have to do going forward," she said, referring to both her position at Iowa and her need to prepare for her new role in Ann Arbor.

White will remain in charge of the University until the beginning of August but said he would confer with Coleman on any major decisions made between now and then.

Laurence Deitch (D-Bingham Farms), chair of the Board of Regents and the Presidential Search Committee, said he is confident Coleman is ready for the job.

"She was quite simply the best of the best. We think the University and the community will benefit from her leadership," he said. "As an administrator, she's smart and she's tough and she knows how big places like this run."

He added that Coleman is well-known in higher education circles and that her name is on "everybody's short list of leaders of higher education."

Deitch cited Coleman's achievements and credentials as part of what made her an appealing candidate, commenting on the breadth of her experiences and involvement in research and a variety of other areas.

"We believe she will prove to be one of the great leaders of the University's history," he said. "We will be fortunate to have her."

Regarding the search process, Deitch called the search "focused, thorough and thoughtful."

Deitch also addressed the contributions of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, composed of faculty, students, staff and alumni, which met 15 times over five months to investigate the pool of candidates.

It was "a truly extraordinary commitment by 16 people with very busy lives," Deitch said.

The University community at large had a chance to be part of the process as well, as 25 meetings were held to give the community a chance to voice opinions and hopes for the next University leader.

"The election of the next president mattered to everyone - everyone cared. It reaffirmed our commitment," said Rackham Dean Earl Lewis, chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee.

Lewis said over 200 people were nominated and reviewed "in one form or another" in a process that "turned nominations into candidates." He said the advisory committee presented a pool of candidates, not finalists, to the regents.

"It was a process that we understood required a high level of confidentiality," he said. He added that the job of the search committee was to create a rich and deep pool full of candidates who were qualified to lead the University in many different ways.

Coleman said that if it had been an open search she would not have considered candidacy. She is not the only one who would have refused candidacy, Lewis said.

While Lewis said the openness in Harvard's recent presidential search did not seem to harm former University President Lee Bollinger - who Coleman is replacing - Bollinger was announced last year to be a finalist and then lost to former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers, he believes Bollinger is the exception to the rule.

"Everyone involved are people who are themselves in a position of responsibility," Lewis said.