When Wim Wiewel announced his retirement last summer after nine years as president at Portland State University, he expected his days of leading a college were behind him.

The 67-year-old had planned to take a position at PSU's Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning on the Park Blocks after a sabbatical traveling with his wife, Alice. It was time to wind down.

"I had zero intention about doing anything else," Wiewel said Tuesday. He was ready to take a step back from a position he described at the time as "exhausting."

The plan changed.

Wiewel will take the helm of Lewis & Clark College, the Southwest Portland liberal arts school announced Tuesday morning. Wiewel will start his new post on Sept. 30, replacing Barry Glassner, who resigned in January. David Ellis, the college's vice president and general counsel, has been the interim president since Glassner's abrupt resignation.

Wiewel spent the better part of the past four decades teaching, leading or researching at large public universities in Chicago, Baltimore and Portland.

"Change is good," Wiewel said. "I like being on the steep part of a learning curve, but also the fact that it's so different from Portland State is just in and of itself very exciting."

Wiewel said Lewis & Clark is "an advocate and a champion for the liberal arts in a time when those are under attack."

PSU is one of the state's largest schools, with an undergraduate enrollment of more than 28,000. Lewis & Clark College has just 2,100 undergraduates, with another 600 law school students and 550 graduate students at the education and counseling program.

The school cited Wiewel's strong relationship in the city and region and his "commitment to the power of the liberal arts" as the chief factors in his hiring.

"We couldn't be happier to have found the right leader close to home in Wim," Trustee Jay Waldron, a Portland attorney and co-chair of the school's presidential search committee, said in a statement. "In an era of increased competition for students, faculty, and donors, there is great opportunity for liberal arts colleges, law schools, and graduate schools like ours to benefit from strong and proven leadership. We're confident his blend of experience, energy, and vision will lead Lewis & Clark to even greater levels of success."

In an interview Tuesday, Wiewel said Lewis & Clark's board reached out to him after Glassner's resignation and asked if he was interested in the job.

The more he thought about it, the more Wiewel and family agreed he would go stir crazy without a busy job. He had no interest in pursuing a leadership role at another public school, but the opportunity to lead a classic liberal arts college was alluring.

Lewis & Clark is a "wonderful enclave" that is set apart from the city in some respects, he said. Wiewel said he wants to strengthen the college's ties to the city while still maintaining its independence.

Wiewel will remain as PSU's president until mid-August, when new hire Rahmat Shoureshi arrives.

He said he signed a three-year contract with the college. School officials declined to confirm that information or disclose Wiewel's salary.

-- Andrew Theen