Interim A&M president Loftin to become president

Well, I'm a few days behind posting this breaking news (though I knew it was coming, thanks to the Eagle's tweet): A&M's Board of Regents named R. Bowen Loftin as the sole finalist for president of A&M. As you might know, FJSA met with his predecessor, Elsa Murano, about the future of journalism at A&M; I'm sure the group will seek to do the same with Dr. Loftin. He's a an A&M grad in physics with a doctorate in same from Rice; 35 years in academia including U of H and Old Dominion, and most recently the CEO of TAMU-Galveston.

A roundup of headlines:

• A&M's likely new leader Loftin plans to use Ike lessons Houston Chronicle
• Students React to Loftin Being Named Sole Finalist KBTX
• Loftin sole finalist to be A&M president Dallas Morning News
• Loftin has earned his promotion Daily News - Galveston County
• A&M regents name finalist for president Austin American-Statesman
• Loftin settles in as sole finalist Bryan-College Station Eagle

Cute note in Eagle story: Receiving a congratulatory phone call from the governor, Loftin jokingly refers to him as "Fish Perry."

Why am I so dang slow with the news? Well, I'll tell you. My big galoot of a husband was driving home from work Dec. 29 when another car hydroplaned and smacked into his Protege nearly head-on. After a week in the hospital and a couple weeks in physical rehab, he is back home with me now, and I could not be more thankful. My intense anxiety has expressed itself in some strange ways, including this little thank-you I made for physical therapists everywhere:

It's a feeble enough sentiment for the work these men and women do. I'm told it's harder to get into PT school than into med school, and surely the pay is lower. Yet these fine folks work wonders with people who are pretty much guaranteed to be at their crabbiest, at their most frightened or frustrated and weakest points. They're part medical practitioner, part engineer and part coach. After my surgery 13 months ago, Kristi K. in St. Louis taught me how to walk again. My husband's crew here in Austin has been just awesome. This goes for the occupational therapists as well.

So it's been a little busier time around here, medically speaking, than we had anticipated. That is definitely one of the reasons why I am unfortunately holding up the boat on Roland Martin's contribution to FJSA -- Roland's more than ready to roll, Dale Rice has some great ideas for how to put the money to use and I'm the connection in the middle, but I have been out of touch too much, one way and another. However, I want to assure y'all it's still very important to me and I'm eager to get it done quickly and correctly. So look for more news from me soon on that. Aggie word!