The president of Florida International University resigned Friday after working at the South Florida school for about 45 years.
Mark Rosenberg cited personal health issues and the deteriorating health of his wife as the reason for his departure in an email to the university community, the Miami Herald reported.
The FIU Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon and planned to nominate Kenneth Jessell, FIU’s chief financial officer and senior vice president of finance and administration, as interim president while the university searches for a more permanent replacement.
Rosenberg first joined FIU in 1976 as an assistant professor of political science. He founded the Latin American and Caribbean Center in 1979.
In 2009, Rosenberg became the first FIU president to rise from the faculty. Before becoming president, he was the chancellor of the State University System of Florida, which oversees the state’s 12 public universities.
FIU’s main campus is located in western Miami-Dade County, with branch campuses located throughout South Florida. Enrollment includes about 42,000 undergraduate students and 17,000 graduate students.
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Republished with permission from The Associated Press.