Former University of Montana President Royce Engstrom will return to campus this fall to teach chemistry.

“I am really enjoying reading chemistry again and preparing materials for my classes,” Engstrom said in a written statement. “I am looking forward to teaching again.”

This will be Engstrom’s first teaching position since before 2007, when he left the University of South Dakota to become UM’s provost and vice president for academic affairs.

He has 20 years of teaching experience.

Engstrom’s annual salary as a professor of chemistry will be $119,106.

He resigned as UM’s president at the end of 2016. The announcement shocked many in the campus and Missoula communities.

A drastic decrease in student enrollment, faculty layoffs and other administrative troubles preceded the resignation. Sheila Stearns is serving as UM’s interim president while the search for Engstrom’s replacement is under way.

Engstrom spent time after his resignation “serving in other executive capacities,” according to the university. At the end of June, he completed a term as commissioner of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

Engstrom declined an interview with the Missoula Current for this story.

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