New president named for Maharishi University of Management

FAIRFIELD - The Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield has named physics professor John Hagelin president.

Hagelin's appointment by the MUM Board of Trustees begins Sept. 12, when President Bevan Morris retires after 36 years, the university said Wednesday in a news release.

Hagelin has been a MUM physics professor since 1984 and has served as honorary chairman of the board. He is the director of MUM's Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy.

Hagelin earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Harvard University in 1981 and then completed postdoctoral fellowships at European Organization for Nuclear Research and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, MUM officials reported.

Hagelin heads the U.S. organization that teaches the Transcendental Meditation technique and is president of the David Lynch Foundation, which teaches Transcendental Meditation to at-risk students, veterans, victims of abuse, homeless people, refugees, inmates and other populations, MUM officials reported.

Hagelin was a third-party candidate for president of the United States in 1992, 1996 and 2000, representing the Natural Law Party, MUM officials reported.

The university was founded in 1971 on the principles of Transcendental Meditation, introduced in India in the 1950s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Iowa campus opened in 1973.