ANDERSON, Ind. — Three weeks ago, John Pistole reportedly told his staff at the Anderson University that he had no interest in pursuing the job of FBI director.

There was speculation in the press and among policy experts that Pistole — who has served as the president of this private, Christian college with an enrollment of about 2,300, for two years — would be among the candidates President Donald Trump might interview after firing James Comey.

But Pistole was not among the initial candidates.

Trump met with former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and acting FBI director Andrew McCabe before his foreign trip. Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman also interviewed for the job, but then removed his name from consideration.

Monday night, however, the White House called, said retired Madison County, Indiana Circuit Court Judge Dennis Carroll, vice chairman of the Anderson University Board of Trustees.

Tuesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced that Pistole was one of two candidates the president would interview in late afternoon, Carroll said.

The other was Chris Wray, a former assistant attorney general at the Justice Department.

“John has kept us well informed,” said AU Board of Trustees Chairwoman Patricia Seasor Bailey. “This is not something he sought.”

You just can’t ignore a president when he calls, however, both Bailey and Carroll said.

If he were offered the job, “I think it would be difficult for him to say no,” Bailey added.

A lawyer by training, Pistole has said he was drawn to the FBI by a strong sense of duty and public service. He graduated from FBI training  in January 1984, and was assigned to the Minneapolis field office for two years. He rose quickly through the ranks.

Pistole was closely involved with high-stakes, high-profile investigations during an FBI career that took him from Anderson to Minneapolis, New York, Indianapolis, Boston and Washington, D.C.

He worked closely with Italian authorities in 1992 to investigate the assassination by Sicilian Mafia of the two top anti-Mafia judges and their security guards.

Pistole helped lead the investigation and recovery efforts following the 1999 crash of Egypt Air 990 off the coast of New England while he was assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston field office.

He led an FBI team to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2003 to investigate the al-Qaida bombings of three western housing compounds that killed 40 people, including eight Americans.

Pistole led the transformation and expanded counterterrorism mission of the FBI following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City and killed nearly 3,000 people.

Former FBI director Robert Mueller tapped Pistole to implement those changes and, in 2004 promoted him to deputy director of the FBI, a position he held for five and a half years.

The Justice Department two weeks ago appointed Mueller as special counsel to oversee the department’s investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

In 2010, former President Barack Obama nominated Pistole to head the Transportation Security Administration, a job he held until AU officials reached out to him.

Although raised in Anderson and an AU graduate, he never worked in an academic setting. But his management and leadership skills were exceptional, and transferred well to his role as AU’s president, Bailey said.

“He would be a terrific FBI director,” she said.

“I’m not at all surprised he’s on a short list” to lead the FBI, Carroll said. “We would certainly hate to lose him at AU.”

But having someone with Pistole’s experience, reputation for integrity, and judgment in leadership of the FBI is critical, especially right now, Carroll added.

“We have assured him we want him to do what’s right for the country and for himself.”

Hirsch writes for the Anderson, Indiana, Herald Bulletin.