In a decision with implications for state funding of Maryland's public campuses, the university system's Board of Regents has settled on Clifford M. Kendall, a retired businessman from Montgomery County, as its next chairman.

Regents say they will ask Kendall, 71, the former chief executive officer of Computer Data Systems Inc., to accept the chairmanship at their meeting in Baltimore tomorrow.

Kendall did not seek the position, but regents said he has indicated he will accept the offer.

"Cliff Kendall is a proven leader, he has excellent insights, and he'll make a great chair," said Nathan A. Chapman Jr., the Baltimore investment manager who served as chairman for three years before stepping down in October.

The selection comes at a crucial time for the regents and the 11-campus university system, which faces the prospect of major budget cuts after years of increases.

Traditionally, regents have sought to elect a chairman on good terms with the governor, in the hope that the chairman will win generous funding for the system.

With all of the current regents appointed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the board lacks any clear allies of Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to serve as chairman.

Retired Adm. Charles R. Larson, the board's vice chairman, has long expressed interest in leading the panel, but his role as Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's running mate against Ehrlich worked against his promotion, regents said.

"I respect Admiral Larson's decision to stay as vice chairman because his moving up might be awkward with the new governor," said regent Joseph D. Tydings, a former U.S. senator.

Larson declined yesterday to comment.

The board settled on Kendall, regents said, partly because he is viewed as more independent than other Glendening appointees.

Kendall, regents note, was one of the regents who privately opposed Glendening's bid for the $375,000 university system chancellorship last year.

A major contributor to political campaigns, Kendall gave $1,000 to Townsend's campaign, records show. But he also gave to Rep. Constance A. Morella, a Republican, in her unsuccessful bid for re-election.

Kendall said yesterday that he was not involved in the gubernatorial race beyond writing the check to Townsend, jokingly noting that he was undergoing hip surgery Election Day.

"I wasn't active in the last campaign. I wasn't pro-Ehrlich, and I wasn't active in Townsend's campaign," he said.

Ehrlich spokesman Paul Schurick said the governor-elect is looking forward to working with Kendall.

"We've heard ... the regents are poised to ask Mr. Kendall, and we are quite comfortable if that's the case," Schurick said.

Ehrlich can replace three members of the 17-person board in July. Some regents believe he may urge the board to elect one of his nominees as chairman then.

One possibility for an Ehrlich-backed chairman, regents say, is retired businessman Richard E. Hug, a GOP fund-raiser and the finance chairman of Ehrlich's campaign.

Schurick declined to discuss future nominations or say whether Ehrlich might ask the board to replace Kendall next year.

Glendening has been criticized for politicizing the board by appointing his friends and for urging the panel to make Chapman chairman.

Chapman, a strong Glendening supporter, has said he stepped down as chairman to focus on his troubled investment business and to make way for a new chairman who would have the support of the next governor.

Tydings said he hoped Ehrlich would not push the board to select a political ally for chairman or make overtly political appointments to the board.

"I feel confident that the governor-elect and the advisers around him will make certain that the Board of Regents will function in the highest traditions of public higher education," Tydings said.

Kendall founded Computer Data Systems in 1968 and retired as CEO when it merged in 1997 with Affiliated Computer Services.

A former chairman of the High Technology Council of Maryland, he is well connected in the state's business community - particularly the high-tech corridor along Interstate 270, where the university system is eager to expand its role.

While soft-spoken, Kendall joined Tydings two years ago in testifying against a bill to allow collective bargaining by nonfaculty employees at the state's campuses.

The bill, strongly backed by Glendening, is now law, and more than 5,000 university staff have joined collective bargaining units.

The selection of Kendall, a University of Maryland, College Park graduate and major donor, increases the flagship campus' influence in the system, a fact that worries officials at other schools.

The system's new chancellor, William E. Kirwan, is a former president of UMCP.