FRANKFORT -  Raymond M. Burse, who was appointed as Interim President of Kentucky State University was named by the board of regents Friday as president of the historically black college. Burse resigned as president of the institution 25 years ago.

Burse, 63, had been interim president since July 1, when he succeeded Mary Evans Sias, who retired in June. At the time, his contract has to run through June 30, 2015, or until a permanent president was selected.

Burse said he accepted the permanent position again because the institution "is too vital to this state" for him to walk away.

"There are lots of students across this state who need to attend an institution like Kentucky State," he said. "Now all those students don't all look like me. So we've got a mission to serve the citizens of this state, and that's what we're going to be about."

The board unanimously extended his contract three years to June 30, 2018.

"The job to be done is not a 12-month job," Burse said immediately after the board's unanimous vote. "It requires a longer period of service, and I have committed to the board to do that longer period of service because I think  this institution is worth it."

A native of Hopkinsville, Burse was president of KSU from1982 to 1989. He was known then for a hard-nosed management style that sometimes resulted in tense relations with employees, but he raised academic standards, improved finances and oversaw $60 million in capital improvements.

He resigned in 1989 after problems with the faculty, which saw annual turnover rates as high as 20 percent during his tenure.

When he returned to KSU to year, Burse made national headlines after giving $90,000 of his then-nearly $350,000 annual salary to increase the pay of the university's lowest-paid workers.

Burse received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics from Centre College in 1973. While at Centre, he earned a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Oxford University, where he majored in organic chemistry. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1978.

After his first time as president of KSU, Burse became an executive at General Electric Co., retiring in 2012 after 17 years. He initially was GE's senior counsel and then became a vice president and general counsel. Before joining GE, he was a partner in the law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs in Louisville.