Rumors were flying fast and furious this morning that the new president of the UNC System would be named by the Board of Governors this week.

Sure enough, it was revealed that Davidson College President Tom Ross would be named to the job. Immediate reaction has been extremely positive. Many remember the outstanding job Ross did as president of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the state. His service as a Superior Court Judge and head of the Administrative Office of the Court was highly rated. But Ross came into his own as president of Davidson College and won high praise for his leadership over the past three years.

The news has to be disappionting to the three names most often rumored to be in line to get the nod: Attorney General Roy Cooper; Jim Phillips, former Board of Governors chair and former Jim Hunt lobbyist; and Bill Roper, the capable head of UNC Health Systems.