BANGOR – Those who know the new leader of Maine’s public university system said Tuesday he has skill at defusing a crisis and is comfortable reaching beyond the boundaries of the academic world.

Richard Pattenaude, 60, is also the first Franco-American chancellor of the University of Maine System, which comprises seven universities, a law school and 11 academic outreach centers scattered among 650 buildings. The system has some 5,000 faculty and staff members and enrolls about 34,000 students.

Pattenaude has been president of the University of Southern Maine for about 15 years. The system board of trustees chose him Monday to be chancellor. He will officially take over July 1.

For Yvon Labbe, director of the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine in Orono, Pattenaude’s heritage is “highly significant” at a symbolic level for the system, but also has deeper meaning.

“The pragmatic significance will unfold as we go along,” Labbe said Tuesday. “I think he will have a much better understanding of the diversity of the state.”

That’s evident in his work at USM. As president of the Portland-Gorham university, Pattenaude played key roles in USM’s campus diversity plan and advisory committee.

“I think people will find that he has an easygoing charisma,” USM Provost Joseph Wood said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “He gets along very well with people.” The provost is traditionally a university’s chief academic officer.

Wood said Pattenaude knows how to deal with difficult situations.

USM last year canceled an art show after police agencies in Maine and other states objected to cop killer Thomas Manning, whose work was on display, being portrayed as a “political prisoner.”

Manning, who took part in a string of bank robberies and bombings of government buildings in the 1970s to protest racism and corporate capitalism, is serving an 80-year sentence for the bombings and the fatal shooting of New Jersey State Trooper Philip Lamonaco in 1981.

“We owe the state of Maine an apology for not doing our homework on the issue,” Pattenaude said in an interview at the time.

Wood said that situation demonstrates something of Pattenaude’s style.

“One of the things he’s very good at is consulting with his staff,” Wood said. “On that one, he was the spokesperson, but the strategy in how we would respond was something that we talked about.”

Pattenaude, speaking Tuesday from UMS headquarters in Bangor, said that in dealing with stressful situations it is important to keep dialogue flowing and “to have clear, core values about what’s important.”

“When you combine good people with good ideas, you get good results,” he said.

Others said his willingness to listen to and collaborate with people who have a variety of viewpoints are among Pattenaude’s greatest strengths.

“He listens, he understands, he interprets, and he creates action and gets things done,” said USM alum Kenneth Ross, who has volunteered with the university’s capital campaigns. “Rich as a chancellor is a major step for higher education in Maine.

“In recent years, I think, the amount of private giving to the University of Southern Maine has just increased dramatically,” Ross said. “He has been very successful in getting out into the community and helping businesses and individuals understand the impact that USM has on the economic vitality of our region.”

That style could be crucial as the university system tries to grow.

Legislative appropriations for UMS (with its $600 million budget) have grown slowly in recent years, and they contribute just 31 percent to the total budget. Most of the remainder of revenue comes from student tuition and fees, room and board charges, and research grants and contracts.

A bond issue for UMS was the only one defeated in the 2005 general election, and previous Chancellor Joseph Westphal’s bid to combine or close some UMS campuses drew harsh responses from community members and staff members alike.

The man who has served as interim chancellor since Westphal quit, Terrence MacTaggart, said Tuesday that Pattenaude provides the system with the best of two worlds because Pattenaude knows Maine but also has helped shape the discussion on higher education on the national platform.

Pattenaude acknowledged that he applied for the chancellor’s job because it offered him a professional challenge while allowing him to stay in Maine. He will be finding a Bangor-area home to be close to the system office. He and his wife will keep their Biddeford home so that she can be close to her Portland-based job.

Pattenaude will be paid $220,000, $12,000 more than was paid to Westphal, who resigned last June.

Originally from Seattle, Pattenaude holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Colorado.

For students at USM, the loss of their president, who still manages to find time to teach a political science class, is “bittersweet.”

“Rich, or Dr. Pattenaude I should say, has been such a good ear, a great person to go to for advice and for guidance,” said USM student body President Andrew Bossie, originally from Caribou. “I haven’t had Rich as a teacher in the classroom sense. However, he has been a great mentor to me.”

Bossie, 23, said Pattenaude has been an accessible president, willing to listen to all concerns and ideas no matter how trivial they seem.

“He treats all people the same in regards to how he prioritizes importance,” Bossie said. “He makes everyone feel really needed and wanted as part of the community that forms the university.”

While at USM, Pattenaude oversaw the addition of 12 undergraduate, five master’s level and two doctorate programs.

“He will be sorely missed in his role as president at USM, but we’re also excited about what he’ll bring to the entire system,” Bossie said. “I guess it’s time to share Rich.”