Ron Mitchelson will serve as the new interim chancellor for East Carolina University, interim UNC System President Bill Roper announced Thursday. This decision follows Dan Gerlach's controversial resignation on Saturday.
Mitchelson has been ECU's acting chancellor since Gerlach's resignation and previously served as provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. He came to ECU in 1999.
"As a longtime member of Pirate Nation, Ron will do a great job leading the university while the ECU Chancellor Search Committee begins the vital work of identifying the university’s next chancellor," Roper said in a a statement.
Gerlach was previously put on administrative leave after he was photographed drinking and dancing with students at community bars. On Saturday, security videos surfaced of Gerlach stumbling while he walked to his car that night, and then driving away.
Mitchelson is one of many interim leaders in the UNC System, including Roper and UNC-Chapel Hill's interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.
