Jake Lacey/Arizona Daily Wildcat Robert Shelton was named the 19th UA president Friday by the Arizona Board of Regents.

Robert Shelton was named the 19th president of the UA Friday by the Arizona Board of Regents.

Shelton, who was born in Phoenix, is the executive vice chancellor, provost and a physics professor at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.

He received a bachelor’s degree in physics at Stanford University and earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in physics at the University of California-San Diego.

As UA president, Shelton will oversee some 10,000 employees and a $1.2 billion budget. Some 37,000 students attend the UA.

In a public forum Monday, Shelton discussed making retention a priority and diverting more tuition and state revenue to make classes smaller.

Shelton also spoke of making the UA a more diverse and inviting place for students by increasing tolerance on campus, especially to sexual orientation.

Lobbying the state legislature is necessary to keep faculty on campus, Shelton said. He also said more needed to be done to keep talented graduate students on campus, including increasing financial aid and making it easier to apply.

Shelton will replace President Peter Likins, who will retire this summer at the age of 70.