Washington State University announced this afternoon that it has named Kirk Schulz as its new president. Schulz currently serves as president of Kansas State University, in Manhattan, Kan.

The WSU Board of Regents is expected to consider Schulz’s contract at its May meeting. If approved, Schulz will become WSU’s 11th president, succeeding Elson S. Floyd, who served as WSU president for eight years and died last June after a months-long battle with cancer. WSU Provost Daniel J. Bernardo has served as interim president since Floyd’s death and will return to his position as provost.

While approval of the contract is pending, WSU plans to bring Schulz to Washington state next week for a series of meetings with students, faculty, staff, and news media at each of WSU’s campuses.

Schulz, who has background as a professor of chemical engineering, has served as president of KSU since 2009. Prior to that, he served as vice president for research and economic development and dean of engineering at Mississippi State University, in Starkville, Miss. Before that, he had also worked on the faculty at Michigan Technology University and the University of North Dakota.

Regent Michael Worthy said in a press release that Schulz has all of the characteristics that WSU was looking for in a president, including “leadership, commitment to academic quality, and administrative skills to complete the strong trajectory WSU is on.”