COLUMBIA, Mo. - Former Sprint Nextel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Gary Forsee was chosen Thursday to lead the four-campus University of Missouri.
In a unanimous vote, the university system's leaders chose Forsee, 57, as its 22nd president, according to a university news release. He replaces Elson Floyd, who left in April for the top job at Washington State University.
Forsee is a 1972 graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla and serves on its board of trustees.
He resigned as chairman, president and CEO of Sprint Nextel, the nation's third-largest wireless carrier, in October and reportedly received a severance of more than $55 million.
Sprint board members and shareholders were unhappy with the company's plummeting stock price and loss of customers since the 2005 merger of Sprint and Nextel.
