West Virginia University's next president, if not hired directly from academia, should at least be versed in the complexities of a major public campus, the school's interim leader said yesterday.

At the same time, said C. Peter Magrath, 75, who began his official duties at WVU last month, any effective leader must be equipped to move deftly in areas far removed from a research campus.

"These jobs are not for political virgins," he told editors and reporters at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "You need a president type who can talk to the governor and legislators and [campus] board members and powerful business leaders, anybody ... and be self-confident."

That's important, Dr. Magrath indicated, even for an institution working hard to rebound from a scandal over its awarding of an unearned M.B.A. degree to the daughter of the state's governor.

During an hour-long session, Dr. Magrath spoke about mending fences but also noted the resilience of the state's flagship university.

Noting gains in the academic profile of its students and in campus fundraising, he said WVU has prospered even as it weathered a controversy that led to the departure of President Mike Garrison after a year in office.

The university of nearly 29,000 students welcomed 5,148 freshmen this fall, the biggest incoming class in its history, culled from a record 16,800 applicants, a total 7.5 percent greater than last year.

"I don't think they would be coming if the place was regarded as some not-good place," he said. "There are lots of good things happening.

"I would not have taken the job if I was thinking I was going to a banana republic, third-rate schlocky institution," said Dr. Magrath, a senior adviser to the College Board and former president of the universities of Missouri and Minnesota and the State University of New York, Binghamton. "There'd be no reason why, at this stage in my career, I would do that."

He said WVU will hold off hiring a new provost, a vice president for health sciences and filling other top vacancies until a permanent president is identified. The university has said it wants that to happen this spring, and Dr. Magrath said yesterday he would like the person to assume the job as soon as July.

And, in case anyone wonders, he made it plain he's not a candidate. "I can't afford a third divorce," he quipped.