UT trustee to resign, seek dean job

4/11/2009

University of Toledo trustee Tom Brady plans to resign so he can be considered for an interim dean position.

Mr. Brady said he plans to send his resignation to the state over the weekend, and the UT board of trustees will discuss "consideration of resignation of a UT trustee" during a special meeting Monday.

University trustees are appointed by the governor.

"The situation is, if I'm going to be considered for that position, I really cannot be a trustee as well," Mr. Brady said. "I really don't have any choice but to resign if I want to be considered, and that's not a sure thing either."

UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs asked Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and the Ohio Board of Regents last month for a 12-to-18-month leave of absence for Mr. Brady so he could be interim dean of UT's Judith Herb college of education.

Thomas Switzer, the education college dean, announced in the fall that he plans to step down after the school year.

The regents responded that a leave of absence was not an option and the trustee would need to resign, said Mike Chaney, spokesman for the regents.

The university was directed to work with the Ohio Ethics Commission if it wanted to pursue the idea further, to make sure no conflict of interest exists.

Mr. Brady said it was his understanding that to be considered for interim dean, he had to separate himself from the board and that resigning would help with any conflict-of-interest concerns.

"It really is just a matter of trying to put things in place that would satisfy the state there wasn't any apparent conflict of interest. Of course, there isn't any," he said.

Mr. Brady, 64, is the chief executive officer and founder of Plastic

Technologies Inc., in Springfield Township.

His company recently appointed a new president to handle the day-to-day operations of the business, and he'd be available to dedicate his time to the post of interim dean, Mr. Brady said.

He was appointed to the former Medical College of Ohio board of trustees in 2005, and his term expires in 2014.

Mr. Brady said the decision to leave the board wasn't difficult for him because his goal always has been to serve the university in the best way possible.

In addition, he said that even if he's no longer a trustee and is not picked to lead the education college, he'll find another way to be involved. "My position has been at the university that I'll do whatever I can to help."

When news of Mr. Brady's possibly becoming interim dean hit campus last month, some faculty were concerned about a CEO, rather than someone with a background in education, running the college.

Contact Meghan Gilbert at:

mgilbert@theblade.com

or 419-724-6134.