Columbia, Mo. ? The University of Missouri’s governing board is looking beyond traditional academic backgrounds to consider a couple of seasoned politicians as it seeks a new president.

Former Gov. Roger Wilson and Atty. Gen. Jay Nixon, both Democrats, are among at least a dozen presidential possibilities before the Board of Curators, sources familiar with the search told The Associated Press on Monday.

Manuel Pacheco, president of the university since 1997, plans to retire next year from the $260,000-a-year post.

Wilson told the AP he has not applied for the presidency but has been encouraged by many people to consider the job.

“I love the state of Missouri, and I love the University of Missouri, and I am always going to help in whatever capacity I can be helpful,” he said. “But any speculation is just that, speculation, and I want to let the curators take care of the very serious job they have to do.”

Wilson, 53, served as governor for about three months in late 2000 and early 2001 after the death of Gov. Mel Carnahan in a plane crash. He now works for a St. Louis-based investment company.

He had served almost eight years as Carnahan’s lieutenant governor and previously spent 13 years as state senator from Columbia home of the university’s flagship campus, where Wilson received a master’s degree.

Nixon, 46, didn’t respond to multiple requests for an interview Monday. Spokesman Chuck Hatfield said Nixon had no comment about the university presidency.

The AP’s sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said lobbying of the curators was under way to boost Nixon, who is in the middle of his third four-year term as attorney general and is said to be restless for a new challenge.

Nixon, 46, lost U.S. Senate bids in 1988 and 1998. He received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

If Nixon got the job and stepped down as attorney general, Democratic Gov. Bob Holden would name his replacement.

Asked Monday about the speculation surrounding Wilson, Nixon and the university presidency, Holden said “either one of them would be outstanding.”

Every University of Missouri president in recent decades has held at least a doctoral degree; Wilson and Nixon do not. But Holden praised the curators for looking beyond candidates with solely academic backgrounds.

The university needs “a strong leader who’s not afraid to make some decisions … and can raise funds not only by working the political process but the private sector process,” Holden said. “We shouldn’t be limited by the past.”

Missouri’s tight revenue situation has prompted cutting the $443 million university budget to $399 million, so the person picked will face tough financial challenges.

Paul Steele of Chillicothe, a curator who is chairing the presidential search committee, declined to discuss any current or prospective candidates.

But he confirmed that the search is going beyond prospects from the world of higher education to include those “from nontraditional backgrounds, including chief executive officer-type experience.”

Steele said the curators hope to name Pacheco’s successor by the end of this year.