The University of Massachusetts at Lowell has made a high-powered pick to be its next chancellor, announcing today that the university’s president, Jack Wilson, had recommended U.S. Rep. Martin T. Meehan to the Board of Trustees, which is expected to ratify the choice tomorrow. Mr. Meehan, an eight-term Democrat who represents the Massachusetts district around Lowell and is an alumnus of the university, said he would seek to take office in July if contract details could be worked out.

To assume his new post, Mr. Meehan would be taking the unusual step of relinquishing power in Congress. He is chairman of a key panel of the Armed Services Committee, and has spent nearly his entire time in Congress as a member of the minority party. His departure will not affect the balance of power in the House of Representatives because his seat is reliably Democratic.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to make UMass-Lowell one of the best universities in the country,” Mr. Meehan told the Associated Press.

In a separate statement, he described his move as “the most difficult professional decision of my life.”