Case Western Reserve University President Resigns After No-Confidence Vote

CLEVELAND

      Dr. Edward M. Hundert, president of Case Western Reserve University, submitted his resignation Wednesday night to the University’s Board of Trustees. Hundert’s resignation will be effective Sept. 1, 2006, allowing the Board to take the necessary time to select a president.

      In accepting the resignation, board of trustees chairman Frank N. Linsalata said that Hundert’s presidency has been a catalyst for positive change.

      “Since his arrival in 2002, he has helped us elevate our aspirations for the university,” Linsalata said. “His vision has inspired us all to believe that we truly can bring Case Western Reserve University to the level of excellence of top research universities in the country.”

      Linsalata also called upon the university community to unite and work cooperatively. “We ask that those voices within the university who have been so vocal in their criticism turn their energies to working together to move the university forward and respect the opinions of all constituents,” he said.

      Hundert explained his resignation to the Case campus in an E-mail message.

      “There is much I would still like to accomplish for our university, but I have reluctantly concluded that the continued tension on campus is too distracting to the advancement of our university,” the message read.

      The college of arts and sciences faculty voted 131-44 earlier this month to express a lack of confidence in Hundert’s leadership.

      Faculty members who opposed him had expressed concerns about budget deficits and uneven fundraising on the campus of nearly 10,000 students and schools including medicine, dentistry, nursing, management, law, engineering and graduate studies.

      Some $17 million had been cut from the university budget and it faces a possible $40 million recurring annual deficit.

      Hundert became president in 2002. He previously was a psychiatry professor and medical-dental dean at the University of Rochester and taught at Harvard Medical School.

      — Staff and newswire reports

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