Steven Rosenstone, the U of M vice president who was one of two finalists, was selected today as the new chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

The other candidate was William Sederburg, commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education.

The MnSCU board voted 14-1 in favor of Rosenstone, who will succeed retiring Chancellor James H. McCormick. MnSCU has 32 institutions with more than 434,000 students.

Rosenstone has been vice president for scholarly and cultural affairs at the University of Minnesota since 2007. He came to the university in 1996 to serve as dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Rosenstone said after the vote that he plans to connect with business leaders and the public, in addition to visiting the campuses.

“Minnesotans are rightfully proud of their state colleges and universities, and I will work hard to make an outstanding system even better,” he said.