The Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education selected David M. Dooley, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., as the 11th president of the University of Rhode Island. He will assume the presidency on July 1, 2009.

Dr. Dooley, 56, a native of California, was selected from a group of three finalists after a nationwide search that attracted 55 candidates. He began his career in higher education in 1978 as an assistant professor at Amherst College, where he later became a full professor and department chair.

Dr. Dooley has nearly 16 years of experience as chief academic officer and department chair at Montana State. He led the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department for six years before being appointed interim provost and vice president for academic affairs in June 1999. In 2001, he was confirmed as provost and vice president for academic affairs.

He earned a B.A. in chemistry from the University of California in San Diego and a Ph.D. in chemistry from California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Dooley’s wife, Lynn Baker-Dooley, is a Baptist minister. The Dooleys have two adult children. The couple has a newly adoped dog, an Aussie they named Rhody.