More on Presidential Finalist at

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

From the Strib

Provost Eric Kaler of Stony Brook University in New York, named the lone finalist for the Minnesota job Friday, told The Associated Press he wants to see the school put on par with institutions like Michigan, Virginia, University of California-Berkley and North Carolina.

"We have the potential to get there," he said. "It's a one word answer: money."

"I fully intend, and in short order, to meet all 201 of the representatives and senators," he said. He said he would tell them how the university "impacts the social and financial well-being of their communities."

Turning research into revenue "is an under-realized opportunity at Minnesota," he said. But in the meantime, more budgets cuts and tuition increases are possible.

It's just the sort of challenge Kaler said he had been working toward for several years.

"When the opening at the University of Minnesota appeared, it just seemed like a truly perfect opportunity, combining my love of the place with my career objectives," he said.

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