The Medical University of South Carolina’s Board of Trustees has chosen Dr. David Cole, a surgeon who has spent two decades at the school, as its next president.

The board voted Thursday, The Post and Courier reported. Cole chairs MUSC’s Department of Surgery and is president of MUSC Physicians. He was picked from more than 50 applicants after a nationwide search of nearly a year, WCSC Live 5 reported, citing MUSC.

“It’s very exciting. I’m really almost speechless,” Cole said shortly after the vote, according to The Post and Courier. “I’m thrilled. I’m so proud to be part of MUSC. The future is very bright.”

The board offered Cole the presidency of the university and its affiliated medical centers at a specially called meeting whose only agenda item was the search, ABC News 4 reported. The institution educates 3,000 students and employs almost 11,000 people, including 1,500 faculty members, according to the station.

Three finalists

Cole was the only internal applicant among the three finalists, The Post and Courier reported. The others were Dr. Joanne Conroy, chief health care officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and Dr. Ora Pescovitz, CEO of the University of Michigan Health System.

“We had three wonderful candidates, any one of whom would have done a wonderful job for MUSC,” board Chairman Thomas Stephenson said, according to Live 5. “But, we had to pick one and I think the board was diligent and thoughtful in its selection.”

Stephenson was more direct about the winner in comments reported by The Post and Courier. “If you look up ‘integrity’ in the dictionary, you’ll find David Cole’s picture,” he said. “He’ll make a great president.”

In a statement reported by ABC News 4, MUSC said it was confident Cole’s experience and strategic vision would help it reach its goal of becoming one of the nation’s top 25 academic medical centers.

A vote by phone

The way the board voted drew scrutiny. All but one trustee cast confidential ballots by phone Thursday afternoon, The Post and Courier reported. Trustee William Bingham voted publicly for Cole, saying he did not want to risk violating state law.

The board amended its bylaws the week before to allow phone ballots for a new president, according to the newspaper. Secret ballots had traditionally been cast in person.

S.C. Press Association attorney Jay Bender told the Charleston Regional Business Journal that he thinks casting secret ballots by phone violates state law, The Post and Courier reported. Stephenson said he was confident the process was legal and did not violate the state’s Freedom of Information Act, and that an attorney at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough had vetted it.

A majority of the 17-member board, at least nine votes, was needed to win. Stephenson said he did not know the final tally, only that Cole received a majority, according to the newspaper.

Who Cole is

Cole earned a biology degree from New Mexico State University in 1982 and went to medical school at Cornell University, The Post and Courier reported. He completed a general surgery residency at Emory University and a surgical oncology fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

He joined MUSC in 1994 and earned tenure in 2001, according to MUSC. He is also president-elect of the Southeastern Surgical Congress, the newspaper reported.

Cole said he hopes to keep practicing medicine in some form after he takes office, according to The Post and Courier.

Pay and timing still open

Cole succeeds Dr. Ray Greenberg, who announced last summer that he was leaving. Provost Mark Sothmann has served as interim president since then, The Post and Courier reported.

The details of Cole’s contract, including his salary, had not been finalized, according to the newspaper. Greenberg earned more than $750,000 a year as president, including his state base pay of $250,629 and a privately funded compensation package.

Cole said he expected to take office July 1 but was not certain of the date, The Post and Courier reported.