AUSTIN - Adm. William H. McRaven stood in front of nearly 8,000 graduating University of Texas students in May and told them they were strong enough to change the world "for the better." Now, the UT-Austin alumnus best known for commanding the Special Operations team that killed Osama bin Laden has been tapped to help them make that promise a reality, as the new chancellor of the University of Texas System.

McRaven, 58, officially became the UT board of regents' sole finalist for the chancellor position late Tuesday after weeks of speculation that he was the nine-member panel's top choice for the job. The board met by teleconference; its vote was unanimous.

"He's the epitome of a servant leader. He's a very collaborative leader," said Regents Vice Chairman Gene Powell, a member of the three-man search committee that also included Chairman Paul Foster and Vice Chairman Steven Hicks.

A San Antonio native and journalism major at the system's flagship, McRaven won't be named incoming chancellor until the regents take a vote to officially appoint him at their August meeting, when they're also slated to discuss salary. In a statement, McRaven said he was "honored" for the opportunity, thanking the regents "for their trust and confidence in my leadership."

McRaven will retire on Aug. 28 from the Navy. But his transition to UT won't be immediate; Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa will stay on until December before returning to his pediatric transplant practice at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

While he has no higher education experience, Foster said McRaven's other skills far outweighed this gap: "This job is a huge administrative job that requires administrative skills and leadership skills...We felt that the chancellor's role was more one of management than academia."

McRaven becomes chancellor against the backdrop of tense relations between the flagship's leadership and system regents. Just weeks ago, UT-Austin President Bill Powers struck a deal with Cigarroa and Foster to step down in early June 2015. Cigarroa and Powers' relationship was long fraught with a lack of trust and communication, climaxing at the end of last year and again in early July, when the chancellor asked the president to resign.

Much of the controversy in Powers' tenure has been driven by Regent Wallace Hall, who made it his personal mission to root out wrongdoing at UT-Austin and tie it to Powers. Hall, an appointee of Gov. Rick Perry, is under increased scrutiny as a House transparency panel drafts articles of impeachment and the Travis County District Attorney's Office mulls a possible criminal investigation.

McRaven's arrival is expected to push the restart button after years of infighting and disagreement between the regents and UT-Austin officials. Across the board, officials, politicians and alumni reacted to the announcement with hope McRaven can usher in a new, less divisive era for the system.

Foster, Hicks and Powell cited a willingness to collaborate, trustworthiness and ability to keep sensitive information as some of McRaven's strongest qualifications for the job. He and his wife also wished to move back to Austin, where they met as undergraduates at UT-Austin, said Foster.

"In discussions with him over the past several weeks, his passion for higher education, his passion for the state of Texas and the children of Texas is so obvious," added Foster. "He's a guy that I believe will be very, very well received at all levels -- at the capitol, on campus and wherever he goes in serving his role as chancellor."

A who's who of Texas' political leadership on both sides of the debate over Powers' tenure also praised the McRaven choice.

"The governor is pleased with the board of regents' selection of Admiral McRaven, whose outstanding character and sterling record of leadership will be a great asset to the UT system,"said Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed. The governor has supported Hall throughout the Powers' ordeal.

Powers' supporters also lauded the announcement, with House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio hoping McRaven's "arrival will mark a new chapter with new opportunities for the UT System."

Even Richard Fisher, the head of the Dallas Federal Reserve who was also rumored to be in the running for chancellor, wished him "fair winds and a following sea."

His ability to work collaboratively has been exhibited as he moved up the command structure. As head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, McRaven revamped the mission of the bolstered forces to enable them to target the areas with the most pressing need for their needle-like precision. He's worked in the field - in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and others - as well as in the office as the Director of Strategic Planning on the staff of the National Security Council.

"I don't command and control anything," McRaven told the New York Times in 2013, after then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta extended him expanded powers to make staffing decisions for the special operations command's regional commanders. "I hope to be able to influence some of their decisions. But I'm not going to move pieces around the chessboard."

He graduated from San Antonio's Roosevelt High School in 1973, where he enjoyed the dramatic arts and chess club. He was a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at UT-Austin, from which he graduated in 1977 on a track scholarship with an undergraduate degree in journalism with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. He received his master's from the Naval Postgraduate School and was named a distinguished UT-Austin alumnus in 2012.

In concluding his commencement address, McRaven might have foreshadowed the principals that will guide his leadership and showed his Longhorn loyalty. Said McRaven: "Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often, but if you take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up.

"If you do these things, then next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today and what started here will indeed have changed the world for the better. Thank you very much. Hook 'em horns."