OKLAHOMA CITY (Legal Newsline)--The chief judge of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has been selected to be the next president of Oklahoma City University.

U.S. Appeals Court Chief Judge Robert Henry was selected out of 53 people who were considered for the top post, the school said in a statement. Henry will be the private Methodist-affiliated school's 17th president.

"Judge Henry brings national and international visibility to the university," said Ron Norick, trustee and chairman of the search committee. "In addition to Judge Henry's exceptional legal and public service career, he is an acclaimed foreign relations scholar and international humanitarian."

Henry, a former Oklahoma state attorney general, will take the position July 1. He previously served as dean of the Oklahoma City University Law School from 1991 to 1994.

"The opportunity to return to Oklahoma City University as its President and CEO is an exciting challenge that my wife, Jan, and I wholeheartedly embrace," Henry said in a statement released by the university.

Henry left the law school to join the appellate court in 1994. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton. He became the 10th Circuit's chief judge in 2008.

Henry served as Oklahoma's attorney general from to 1987 to 1991.

Oklahoma City University has 3,700 graduate and undergraduate students. Henry will succeed OCU President Tom McDaniel, who will retire in July and assume a new role as chancellor.

From Legal Newsline: Reach staff reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.