MURRAY, KY - Murray State University President Randy Dunn has decided against seeking the presidency of Missouri State University.
 
Dunn announced Monday he was withdrawing as a candidate of the university in Springfield. The university named interim president Clif M. Smart III to the post permanently on Tuesday.
 
Dunn cited encouragement from the community to stay in Murray as well as a belief that Missouri State wanted a president from its own ranks as his reasons for staying at the western Kentucky school he has led since 2006.
 
Smart was Missouri State's top legal adviser before being named interim president in June 2011 when James Cofer stepped down after less than a year in the job.