Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Retiring Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott said he’s considering an invitation from Stanford University to serve as a visiting professor.

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business has talked to Scott, 59, about being a Denning Distinguished Fellow in global business and the economy next year, said Barbara Buell, a university spokeswoman, today in an e-mail. Scott will retire Jan. 31 after serving as Wal-Mart’s CEO since 2000.

“They sure as heck wouldn’t have let me in when I was younger,” Scott told employees at a meeting today in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, is based. He didn’t provide more information about the invitation.

Scott said he may need to improve his vocabulary and use a thesaurus if he decides to teach at the school, which is near Palo Alto, California. The executive received a bachelor’s degree in business from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, according to his biography on Wal-Mart’s Web site. He graduated in 1971, the school said.

“I would be delighted if Lee can spend time at the Stanford Graduate School of Business interacting with our students and faculty,” Dean Robert Joss said in the e-mail from Buell.

In his final public remarks as CEO, Scott received a standing ovation from employees after he spoke during the meeting about improving environmental efforts. He will be succeeded by Mike Duke, Wal-Mart’s vice chairman in charge of overseas operations.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 1348 or cburritt@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 26, 2009 18:34 EST