Governor Jan Brewer announced today her nominee to fill a spot on the Arizona Board of Regents.
Mark Killian, former speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, got the nod from Brewer and would replace Robert Bulla, whose term expires this year.
"Mark is a well-known and highly regarded public leader who understands the critical role that education serves in my priorities of job growth and business recruitment," Brewer says in a statement.
Killian is a Mesa resident who served as speaker for four of his 14 years in the Legislature. He also served for nearly six years as former Governor Fife Symington's director of the Department of Revenue.
Regents are volunteers. The organization governs Arizona's three universities and plays a major role in the cost of tuition, so being a member isn't some cushy, do-nothing job -- there's real potential to piss off a lot of people.
The gig isn't Killian's just yet, though. Before it's official, Killian must be confirmed by the state Senate, which shouldn't be a problem -- the guy's a Republican who spent roughly 20 years in state government. He's bound to have a friend or two in the Senate.
