Lantern file photo
There is less than a week of Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee’s tenure in office remaining, however a university representative said the details of his departure, and his interim replacement’s salary, are not yet available.
The public became aware of Gee’s resignation from OSU June 4 and Executive Vice President and Provost Joseph Alutto was approved as interim president by the Board of Trustees during a regularly scheduled meeting June 7.
Gee is retiring from the presidency July 1, which comes after remarks he made at a Dec. 5 Athletic Council meeting became public. His comments about “those damn Catholics” of Notre Dame not being able to be trusted and that being why the university was never invited into the Big Ten brought national attention.
He also made remarks about the academic standards of the SEC conference and said as a Big Ten president, it was his job to make sure the conference is comprised of schools that value academics. His comments led to a reprimand letter dated March 11 from Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Schottenstein that said future mishaps would result in punitive action, including dismissal.
Assistant Vice President of Media and Public Relations Gayle Saunders said in an email there are no details available regarding Gee’s exit package and Alutto’s interim salary as of Wednesday morning.
Gee is the third-highest paid university president, earning slightly less than $1.9 million in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Gee has been president at OSU since October 2007, but previously served as university president from 1990-1997.
Gee, who has a history of making questionable remarks, apologized in an email statement to OSU faculty, students and staff May 31 and said there was “no excuse” for his comments.
