University of Colorado at Boulder Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson has been named the sole finalist to become president of Georgia Tech.

Peterson is expected to be named to the top post at the university - formally known as the Georgia Institute of Technology - later this month or next month.

Peterson declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that he is "humbled" by the nomination. "Georgia Tech is a wonderful institution and presents a special opportunity for me and my family," he said.

The 56-year-old engineer has served as the top administrator of CU's flagship Boulder campus, with 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students, since July 2006.

He is credited with improving the reputation and profile of the school and instituting reforms following a football recruiting scandal.

Donations and federal research funding are significantly higher since Peterson joined CU and the campus is implementing a strategic plan, known as Flagship 2030, that he spearheaded.

Bruce Benson, president of the CU system, said Peterson's pending departure will be a "great loss" to the university.

Benson said CU would wait for the Georgia Tech process to finish before deciding what to do about naming a new chancellor.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Kansas City, Peterson previously worked for six years as provost at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., and a number of positions at Texas A&M University.

He earned three degrees at Kansas State University - bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and in mathematics and a master's degree in engineering. Peterson earned his doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M.

Georgia Tech is a state school serving about 20,000 students in Atlanta. The school's last president, G. Wayne Clough, stepped down in July 2008 to take the top post at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Clough had served at Georgia Tech since 1994.