Ousted LSU Health Shreveport chancellor to join LSU System staff
LSU's Memorial Tower displays the time on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge, La. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
Former LSU Health Shreveport Chancellor Dr. David Guzick, who resigned from his job this week after months of pressure from an LSU Board of Supervisors member, will fill a newly created role in the LSU System.
The board voted unanimously Friday to name Guzick the system's chief research officer. The role comes with a salary of $475,000, a significant reduction from his chancellor's salary of $900,000.
The board also named Lester Johnson, the medical school's vice chancellor of academic affairs, as its interim chancellor while a search for Guzick's replacement happens. A search timeline has not been announced.
Johnson currently receives an annual salary of $208,763 and will receive a stipend of up to $100,000 for serving as interim chancellor.
Guzick resigned as chancellor Wednesday following months of pressure from LSU Board member Esperanza Moran, who called for his dismissal at a board meeting last September. Moran has not spoken publicly about why she wanted Guzick removed.
Moran was at the State Capitol on Wednesday for LSU Day. When a reporter approached to ask about Guzick's exit, she waved her hand and walked away.
Guzick had wide support from LSU leadership, including LSU System President William Tate and the top staff at the Shreveport campus. He was praised for getting the medical school removed from probation by its accrediting body.
That accomplishment was described as a 'grand slam home run in the bottom of the 9th to win' by his top administrators in a letter they sent to Tate in March, urging his support for Guzick. A similar letter was sent by 17 department chairs to the LSU Board of Supervisors last month, when the LSU Health Shreveport Faculty Senate also approved a resolution in support of Guzick.
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