UMass-Lowell Chancellor Martin Meehan is pulling his name out of consideration for University of Massachusetts president.
The former congressman's name had surfaced as a possible replacement for retiring President Jack Wilson. Meehan said in a letter Tuesday to the UMass presidential search committee that he won't be a candidate.
Meehan left the U.S. House in 2007 to take over leadership of his alma mater and has received generally positive reviews of his tenure.
Gov. Deval Patrick said last week he wants the next UMass president to be able to raise money outside the state and also represent the university in the upper echelon of public higher education across the country.
Despite leaving elected office, Meehan maintains a nearly $5 million campaign account and has given $20,000 to the state Democratic Party during the past two years.