Over the crackling of static, M. Peter McPherson's voice fades in and out on a telephone line that keeps a connection for barely 10 minutes. But the persistent noise doesn't drown out the enthusiasm of the MSU president's voice.
"I think this must be heaven," he says of Iraq, while enjoying the last moments of his day before making a journey back to his sleeping quarters - a cluttered trailer outside of the main palace in downtown Baghdad.
It's 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Iraq's capital city, and McPherson, 62, flips off the power switch of his computer. Only a single lamp lights his 15-square-foot Iraqi office, which remains bare after months of civil unrest and looting. The room contains only the computer, lamp, a pile of papers and the telephone McPherson pinches between his head and shoulder.
"I think life is good," he says with a chuckle. "A lot of people can adjust to not having running water all the time."
The whirling of a recently installed air conditioner has Iraq's new money maestro beaming, as he is challenged with the daunting task of installing a free-market economy where state control was the rule for decades.
And the scorching 101-degree evening heat outside hasn't dampened McPherson's spirits too much. With the new office breeze box coupled with his air-conditioned trailer, McPherson hopes to take on some of the heat of restructuring Iraq, allowing him to focus on his life's passion - finances.
President Bush tapped McPherson to oversee the war-torn nation's economy in April as financial coordinator for the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq.
McPherson plans to revive Iraq's economy through free trade and the eventual elimination of state subsidies that lowered the prices ordinary Iraqis paid for food, gasoline and other essentials.
He says completing those tasks remain aways off, but believes they are within the grasp of his department of 20 or so workers.
"It is fun to put together a country's budget," he says. "This has been hard and invigorating, frankly."
McPherson, clad in a light beige pullover, is a half world away from his suit-and-tie lifestyle at the university.
"I've worn a suit twice here," he says.
McPherson left the land-grant university on an unpaid leave of absence approved by the Board of Trustees in the spring.
Former MSU President John A. Hannah also took a leave of absence to work as the assistant secretary of defense for manpower and personnel during President Eisenhower's administration.
In the 1980s, McPherson gained financial affairs experience as the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for the U.S. Department of Treasury under former President Reagan and chief administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
McPherson plans to return to MSU in September, but knows that financial repair of Iraq will be far from complete then.
"It's a challenge to take on the intricate, but integrated and controlled economy. I think we'll leave a mark," he says as his voice is silenced by loud popping of a failing phone line, a reminder that much is left to repair in Iraq.
Kevin Hardy can be reached at hardykev@msu.edu.
