Chancellor Sean O’Keefe announced his resignation today.
In a University news release issued this morning, O’Keefe said he will “relinquish duties as chancellor at the end of this month.”
The statement said LSU System President John Lombardi will appoint an acting chancellor Feb. 1 to assume the duties of chancellor. O’Keefe’s term will officially end June 1.
O’Keefe said he plans to remain at the University for the remainder of the spring semester as a professor of public administration in the E.J. Ourso College of Business.
O’Keefe’s job security came under scrutiny earlier this month when University donor and Louisiana businessman Jonathan Martin sent an e-mail Dec. 31 to statewide business leaders alleging Lombardi told O’Keefe he “should be looking for another job.”
The Daily Reveille has learned the LSU Board of Supervisors hired Lombardi under the condition he remove O’Keefe as chancellor.
“The university system leadership clearly has the authority and deserves the prerogative to empower those who can take the university to the next level and I wish them every success in that quest,” O’Keefe said in his statement. “It is evident to me that LSU needs a campus leader who enjoys the full confidence of the board and the president.”
In the statement, O’Keefe said the University has made “substantial progress” toward the goals of the National Flagship Agenda and moving the University into the national spotlight.
“I have every confidence that by 2010 the university will meet or exceed each of the goals,” O’Keefe said in the statement. “Much more needs to be done for LSU to compete successfully with the national peers we are compared to. The next chancellor has a strong foundation to build on, but much more needs to be done.”
O’Keefe said he has been impressed by leadership and spirit of volunteerism displayed by University students after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He said he considers his time as chancellor both an honor and a privilege.
“I have done my best and I have left everything I’ve got on the field. To the extent that my best can be improved upon by others, I welcome them as it is all about the advancement of LSU.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated as more news has become available.
—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected].