When Norman R. Smith was asked by the Registry for College and University presidents if he was immediately available to step in to leadership at Suffolk University, he dove right in.

Smith lived in Boston 30 years ago, during a stint at Harvard, and saw what Suffolk was worth.

“Suffolk was a much more diminutive player in Boston than it is today,” he said, noting that the university has made “extraordinary progress,” and he hopes as interim president to keep raising the bar.

“I think the school has made leaps and bounds and is well positioned to be a major player, even among the highly competitive world of Boston colleges and universities,” he said.

President McCarthy suddenly left his position as president to pursue consulting and business opportunities, according to a statement released Wednesday.

“I think the presidential departure happened suddenly,” Smith, 68, said in a telephone interview Thursday morning, noting that the university did not want to hire internally.

The registry knew Smith would be able to step in on short notice.

“They said, ‘gee, that looks like the person to come in,’” Smith said, recalling the quick process.

One reason Smith has been pegged as the best to replace outgoing president James McCarthy is because of the stunning transformation he coordinated as president of Wagner College in New York.

“When I started at Wagner it was on the verge the bankruptcy,” Smith said. “Suffolk isn’t experiencing anything quite that horrid.”

Smith plans to help Suffolk achieve recognition on a national, or even international, level.

“I’ll be there for as long as it takes,” he said. “That could be a year, it could be two years, it could be three. There’s no rush.”

Smith believes Suffolk could see the kind of success that New York University did when campaigns helped boost it to a first-choice school among students, raising enrollment.

One thing he loves about Suffolk is its location.

“There you are on the common, right next to the state capital,” he said with excitement in his voice. “I don’t think it gets much better than that as an exciting place to go to college.”

Smith will be moving to the city and says it is likely students will see him on Boston’s streets.

“Being president of a college or university is like being mayor of a small town,” said the interim president, who considers himself an “urban maven.”

Once he starts on Monday, Smith is focusing on creating the path to raise Suffolk’s academic stature.

“I think there’s more to come and the school has a very exciting future,” he said. “Raising visibility is overdue. It deserves to be at a much higher level than it is.”