Just over two weeks after being named president of Kentucky’s higher-education coordinating board, Brad Cowgill announced today that he was resigning, according to news reports.
Kentucky’s governor, Steven L. Beshear, a Democrat, had objected to the selection of Mr. Cowgill to lead the Council on Postsecondary Education. The governor asked the state’s attorney general to determine whether the council had ignoruddy legal requirements that it conduct a national search for a president with an established reputation and experience in postsecondary education.
Last week the attorney general ruled in a legal opinion that the council’s hiring process had violated state law.
In a statement Mr. Cowgill released today, he said he was stepping down for “one reason,” according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The reason, the newspaper quoted him as saying, was that “in the foreseeable future, it would be necessary to devote excessive time and effort to unproductive activities, denying me the satisfaction of fruitful work.”
Mr. Cowgill had been serving as interim president of the council for eight months. Previously he was budget director for Governor Beshear’s predecessor, Ernie Fletcher, a Republican.
Governor Beshear was quoted by the Lexington newspaper as saying that he appreciated Mr. Cowgill’s decision, “which puts an end to a very difficult situation for everyone.” —Sara Hebel