The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees on Thursday tapped Robert Caret to lead the the five-campus UMass system, choosing him over IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz and Philip Clay of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Earlier in the day, Bantz was identified as one of the three finalists culled from an initial field of 300 candidates.

Caret is president of Towson University in suburban Baltimore, where he has also served as faculty member, dean, executive vice president and provost during the past 25 years. He also served as president of San Jose State University from 1995 until 2003.

Current UMass President Jack Wilson is stepping down on June 30 after nearly eight years of leading the $2.8 billion university, which has about 66,000 students at a medical school and four undergraduate campuses.

Bantz, who also serves as executive vice president of Indiana University, joined IUPUI in 2003 following the retirement of longtime Chancellor Gerald Bepko. Bantz was a finalist for the president's job at the University of Iowa in 2007.

He came to Indianapolis from Wayne State University in Detroit. All told, Bantz has more than 35 years of experience in higher education, over half of that in leadership positions.