Controversy and disbelief swirl at the University of British Columbia, where the president abruptly resigned last week, a year-and-a-half into a five-year contract.
Arvind Gupta’s surprise resignation announcement Friday was made by UBC’s Board of Governors, who said the resignation was for “personal reasons.”
A statement from UBC Public Affairs said Gupta was leaving to resume his academic career as a mathematician and computer scientist.
Some people are not buying the explanation. On Monday, Mark MacLean, the head of UBC’s faculty association, expressed disbelief and skepticism that the resignation was solely to allow Gupta to return to his academic pursuits.
In a letter to faculty, MacLean, a mathematics professor, demanded that the Board of Governors explain why Gupta’s had resigned so early in his first term.
MacLean called the recent events a leadership crisis and added that Gupta’s resignation represented a serious loss to the school and a failure by university governance.
Prior to taking the UBC presidency, Gupta was CEO of Mitacs, a UBC-based national not-for-profit organization that brings industry and business together with academia.
During his short term as UBC president, three vice-presidents left their positions, including the provost and academic vice-president, the vice-president of finance and the vice-president of communications and community partnerships.
Board of Governors Chairman John Montalbano said the resignations had nothing to do with Gupta’s decision to step down.
Former UBC president Martha Piper becomes interim president until a permanent replacement is appointed next fall.
UBC has more than 59,000 students on its Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, and more than 15,000 faculty and staff.
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