NEWS

U of L accepts Ramsey's resignation

Andrew Wolfson
@adwolfson
  • What this means: Ramsey is out immediately but will be paid $690,000.
  • But Ramsey's future as president of the U of L foundation won’t be decided until at least September.
  • It is unclear how long the search process for a new president will take.
  • In meantime, Provost Neville Pinto will lead the university until a new president is selected.


James Ramsey exits the building as the U of L Board went into open session Wednesday night.

After seven hours of closed-door meetings and negotiations, President James Ramsey agreed to resign as the university’s 17th president.

The Board of Trustees agreed to a deal in which Ramsey will be paid $690,000, the equivalent of about two years of his university salary only.

Board Chairman Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman said the board rejected his proposal to serve for up to one year as interim president with his current salary and benefits. Bridgeman indicated that at one point the board considered firing Ramsey outright.

Bridgeman and the board’s lawyer said the settlement was reached in part to avoid potential litigation. Ramsey had a contract through 2020.

Ramsey will leave immediately.

Bridgeman said the board did not discuss whether Ramsey should continue as president of the university’s foundation, which paid him about $8 million from 2012-14.

His future in that position won’t be decided until at least September, said Bridgeman, who is also chairman pro tem of the foundation board.

It is unclear what compensation Ramsey will get from the foundation, or for how long.

Bridgeman said it was sad to see Ramsey go, considering his contributions to the university, which Bridgeman said included raising its graduation rate.

When asked about Ramsey's mood when the deal was finally struck, Bridgeman said,  “Jim is always the gentleman” and was concerned about doing the best thing for the school.

Bridgeman declined to say why the board did not want Ramsey to stay on during the transition.

“That was just part of the negotiations,” he said.

Provost Neville Pinto will lead the university until a new president is selected, although Pinto is out for two weeks and under the university’s bylaws its interim Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Dr. Greg Postel, is next in command.

The board voted to go ahead with the search process for a new president, but Bridgeman said he couldn’t say how long that will take.

Ramsey left Grawemeyer Hall without talking to reporters.

In a kind of shuttle diplomacy, Bridgeman left the trustees meeting in the basement of Grawemeyer Hall five times to go upstairs to negotiate with Ramsey and his attorney, Steve Pence, the former lieutenant governor and U.S. Attorney.

Bridgeman announced at the beginning of the meeting that Ramsey had offered to resign with three conditions.

First was that it hire a one-year contract as interim president, with the same compensation and benefits as he already was making.

He also demanded that he be given a one-year contract to run through June 30, 2017, or until a new president is named and asked him to step down.

Finally, he said he had to be given one year of administrative leave with pay after that, as promised under his existing contract.

Ramsey has refused to say if he will also resign as president of the university foundation, which supplemented his pay by about $8 million over the three years from 2012-14.

The foundation has a separate board, and the Board of Trustees has no legal power to require him to step down as foundation president.

Ramsey was hired in 2002 and helped transform the university from a commuter school to a major research university where most students live on campus.

But he has come under attack in recent years because of his lucrative pay and a series of embezzlements and other scandals.

He narrowly escaped a vote of non-confidence in March by the former board.

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at 502-582-7189.