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After forays into public service and retirement from the private sector, Rick Myers is back on the job.

The retired IBM vice president of research and development is the new chief operating officer at the Tucson-based Critical Path Institute.

C-Path is a non-profit partnership of the University of Arizona and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, formed in 2005 to study ways to improve the approval process for innovative new drugs, diagnostic tests and devices.

In March, Myers was in the running to become Tucson Unified School District's superintendent. He was the only candidate for the position without a background as a professional educator.

However, the TUSD Governing Board voted in Iowa educator Elizabeth Celania-Fagen in a split decision.

Myers has also been involved with a number of local groups and committees, including TUSD's Blue Ribbon Committee, and he was president of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council from 2002 to 2004.

Myers was also co-chair of citizens' advisory committee for the Regional Transportation Authority and was chief operating officer of Bourn Partners from May 2006 to June 2007.

For its top operating post, C-Path was looking for someone with an engineering background and a track record of leadership, and Myers filled those requirements, said Kathleen Perkins, C-Path's executive director of strategic initiatives.

"I felt that going to C-Path was an opportunity to work on something that has a large impact throughout the world and makes people's lives better," Myers said.

C-Path was formed in response to the FDA's 2004 Critical Path Initiative, a national effort to modernize the way new medical therapies are approved for the marketplace. Among the institute's projects are a consortium of major drug companies that share information on drug safety and testing.

In his new job, Myers will oversee C-Path's strategic growth and economic development and the day-to-day operations of the institute.

Myers said his goal is "to create an environment where everyone can be successful."

"Rick Myers is probably the most community-minded leader I have ever met, and his work was instrumental in getting the RTA" started, said Ron Shoopman, president of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.