On June 25th Montana State University President Geoff Gamble announced today that, subject to approval by the Board of Regents, Frank Trocki will be the new chancellor for MSU-Northern. Gamble and Trocki have been in Helena today to meet with Montana University System leaders and then will travel to Havre where Gamble will introduce Trocki and his wife Joan to the campus and the community. His appointment will begin in late July.

“Frank Trocki (Trō kee) is a great choice for the students of Northern and the Hi-Line community. I have confidence he will bring vision and strong leadership to the task of making Northern the best it can be for students,” Gamble said. “In addition, Frank and Joan will, I know, be a wonderful addition to the Havre and Hi-Line communities.”

Trocki (age 62) is currently vice president of business development for Lincoln Educational Services/Lincoln College of Technology in West Orange, N.J. He has a doctorate of education from West Virginia University in Morgantown, W. Va., and a master’s and bachelor’s in industrial technology from Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Mass.

“I am honored to be selected as MSU-Northern’s chancellor. I look forward to working with Northern’s faculty, staff, alumni, friends and, especially, its students in enhancing the university,” Trocki said.

“I will dedicate myself to making Northern affordable and accessible to any student who desires a quality and diverse education,” he said.

Trocki was selected from a pool of 68 candidates that were screened by an 18-person search advisory committee formed by Gamble in January. The committee conducted phone interviews with a group of semi-finalists and then brought three candidates to the Havre, Great Falls and Bozeman campuses for visits.

“All three finalists were exceptional leaders, but our committee felt that Dr. Trocki had the best combination of an experienced and steady administrative hand and the potential to move both existing and proposed academic and support programs forward for the benefit of our students in the shortest amount of time,” said Rolf Groseth, Northern’s interim chancellor and chair of the search advisory committee.

“Dr. Trocki will bring to Northern a wealth of knowledge in the areas of workforce development and industry trends. He also has an incredible resource network that can be tapped for securing funding for programs that provide scholarships for students,” said Debbie Vandeberg, executive director of the Havre Chamber of Commerce and a community representative on the search advisory committee.

“Dr. Trocki has a handle on the need to market Northern in order to increase enrollment. His out of the box thinking and high energy will bring new opportunities to Northern and Havre,” Vandeberg said.

Trocki previously served three years as vice president of education/interim president for Lincoln College of Technology Indianapolis; one year as interim president for University College of the Caribbean; and seven years as president of Elexon Ltd.

Additionally, he was a dean at College of the Redwoods in California and a department chair at University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Northeastern University in Boston.

Trocki replaces Alex Capdeville, who retired as chancellor in December 2007.