SEO Headline (Max 60 characters)
U of Minnesota President Quits Controversial Board Seat
University of Minnesota president Joan Gabel on Monday resigned her position on the Securian Financial Board of Directors, citing weeks of “extremely painful” scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest between her two roles, The Pioneer Press reported.
The company holds $1.3 billion in retirement plan assets for university employees, and its affiliate Minnesota Life Insurance Company is in the middle of a life insurance contract worth $4.6 million a year.
The Board of Regents had approved, by a vote of 9 to 3, a conflict-management plan for her relationship with Securian.
Gabel had said that the board seat came with $130,000 in compensation (on top of the $1 million she will receive for being president). But she said Monday that she had “voluntarily waived the directors’ compensation and have not received any benefits.”
In a letter to the Securian board, Gabel wrote, “The last several weeks have been extremely painful for me and, I’m sure, very uncomfortable for you, as there have been questions regarding my service on the Board of Directors of Securian Financial. This distraction is unfortunate, as my appointment to the board of Securian would only expand the university’s important networks and outreach. However, out of respect for the institution and to eliminate any further distraction of our work, with a heavy heart, I will be resigning my Securian Financial directorship effective immediately.”
Trending Stories
THE Campus
Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education.
- How LGBTQ leaders navigate a predominantly non-LGBTQ world
- Voting counts: how to get more students to the ballot box
- The changes to the National Student Survey could prove disastrous
- From personal to professional: incorporating sustainability into your university work
- How to tell if your university is making a genuine effort to increase diversity
Most Shared Stories
- DeSantis puts into action his plan to end "woke activism"
- Provost makes bestiality joke, reacting to concern for LGBTQ faculty
- Academic experts offer advice on ChatGPT
- Women chairs face mushrooming demands with inadequate support (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed
- With ChatGPT, we must teach students to be editors (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed
But What About Outcomes?
It’s Complicated