Loftin to Become Chancellor of University of Missouri

Outgoing Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin has been officially named the new chancellor of the University of Missouri.

The announcement of his new position was published Thursday on the University of Missouri's website.

Loftin has served as president of A&M since 2009, first in an interim capacity and then officially starting in 2010. In July, he announced his intention to step down in January 2014. At the time, he signaled an intention to remain in College Station serving as a tenured faculty member and launching a new institute within the engineering department at the university. 

"I will certainly miss being ‘aggieprez’ (my twitter handle)," he said in a statement at the time, "but I will still be part of this great university and will be serving on the ‘front lines’ of the academy, side-by-side with those I love the most — our students.”

Clearly, more than just the Twitter handle will have to change. Loftin officially starts his new job in Missouri on Feb. 1.

And he's not walking away empty-handed. After he announced his departure, his final separation agreement with A&M included an $850,000 payout.

In Texas, presidents lead individual universities and chancellors head up an entire university system. In Missouri, the titles are switched. So Loftin's next role is analogous to the post he held at A&M.

And like A&M, Loftin's new university recently joined the Southeastern Conference. In fact, Missouri's football team defeated the Aggies less than a week before the announcement of Loftin's move.

No official word on whether that swayed the president-turned-chancellor's decision.