This article has been updated to reflect the most recent reporting.
Pam Benoit, Ohio University’s executive vice president and provost, will be leaving the university, interim OU President David Descutner announced Thursday in a news release.
Benoit will head to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to serve as the university’s senior vice president and provost beginning July 1.
“Although I will miss my friends and colleagues at Ohio University tremendously, I have no doubt that with strong leadership the University will continue to advance in the years to come,” Benoit said in the release. “I will always have a special place in my heart for the Bobcat family.”
Benoit was one of four candidates for the position, and she interviewed with the university on May 2. The University of Alabama at Birmingham was established in 1966 and has more than 19,500 students enrolled.
Descutner said he is grateful to her dedication to OU’s mission.
“For the last eight years, Pam has worked ever so effectively to advance Ohio University as a premier research university and transformative learning community,” Descutner said in the release. “She was a wonderful colleague during the years when we worked closely together.”
An interim executive vice president and provost will be appointed as OU undergoes a national search to permanently fill the position. A search firm will be hired and a university-wide search committee will be created to identify candidates.
Benoit has worked as OU’s executive vice president and provost since 2009. She earned $306,000 during the 2016-17 academic year. She was one of four finalists for the position of OU’s 21st president but dropped out of the running in February. Duane Nellis was picked as OU’s next president and will begin his term June 12.
Benoit had considered jobs at other universities in recent years. She was named as one of four finalists in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s search for the chancellor position in 2015, from which she later withdrew. She was also the only finalist in 2015 for the chancellor position at the University of Colorado Denver but ultimately was not offered the job.
Previously, Benoit was a faculty member at Bowling Green State University and an administrator at the University of Missouri.
