Former University of South Carolina president Andrew Sorensen died suddenly Sunday. He was 72.

Sorensen, the 27th USC president who served from July 2002 to July 2008, was chief fundraiser for Ohio State University when he died.

No cause of death was given by Ohio State, which posted a notice Sunday on its Internet site.

While at USC, Sorensen became known for both his colorful, energetic personal style - symbolized by his trombone- and trumpet-playing, bow ties and penchant for riding a bicycle around campus - as well as his leadership on multiple fronts.

When USC's board of trustees hired Sorensen in 2002, he was 63 years old and - because of his near-retirement age - many believed he would be a "caretaker" president while the board searched for a younger president with more longevity potential.

Sorensen quickly demonstrated he was no caretaker. His outreaches to the city of Columbia, efforts to position USC and South Carolina as a leader in energy technology, his "green" building initiatives, and strengthening of ties to the local and state African-American community won him rave reviews from many.

"He was a transformational figure and a close friend," said Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, who in his 20 years as mayor knew the two presidents who preceded Sorensen - Jim Holderman, who became the first former USC president to be sentenced to federal prison, and John Palms, who received generally good marks for helping revive USC after scandals in the Holderman years.

Coble said Sorensen "transformed city-university and town-gown relations to where we were in a partnership in economic development and everything else."

When USC chose Sorensen, he was an outsider with little experience of South Carolina. Born in Pittsburgh, he was raised in Illinois. He graduated from universities in Illinois, Michigan and Connecticut. He had a degree in divinity from Yale, as well as degrees in history and public health.

From 1996 to 2002, he served as president of the University of Alabama. Before that, he was provost and vice president of academic affairs at the University of Florida and executive director of the AIDS Institute at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.