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Ohio State University President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. resigned after the university disclosed it is investigating what it called “an inappropriate relationship” involving “inappropriate access” to Ohio State leadership. The university said Carter stepped down abruptly over the weekend after the disclosure, and it began work on a leadership transition while the inquiry proceeds.

Carter, 66, said in a statement that he had resigned voluntarily after telling the board of trustees about his error. He said he made “the difficult decision to resign” and that he disclosed to the board of trustees that he allowed “inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership.” Carter did not elaborate on whether the relationship was romantic, and his statement indicated he and his wife, Lynda, are still a couple.

Board Chair John Zeiger accepted Carter’s resignation in a letter dated Sunday, according to the university. The acceptance followed a private executive session that trustees held, which occurred a day after the university said the board met.

Spokesperson Ben Johnson said Carter was not present at the executive session but that trustees were aware of the situation before they met. Johnson said the university has opened an investigation into what it called Carter’s impropriety and is also working to put in place a leadership transition plan.

Zeiger said in a written response that the board was “surprised and disappointed to learn of this matter” and that it takes the situation and its potential impact on the university very seriously. Zeiger added that the board “respect[s] your decision” and appreciated Carter’s cooperation in supporting an orderly leadership transition.

In the absence of a president, Johnson said Ohio State’s daily operations will be handled by members of Carter’s former cabinet, including a chief of staff, two executive vice presidents and seven senior vice presidents. Johnson also said that in an emergency, the university’s public safety professionals would take direct action, as they always do.

The university said Carter’s contract was supposed to run through 2028, and it noted that trustees awarded him a more than $50,000 merit raise in August on top of his $1.1 million annual salary, as well as a nearly $400,000 bonus. The university also said presidents are provided residency at a roughly $3.6 million mansion in a Columbus suburb.

Ohio State described Carter’s background, saying he joined the university in 2023 from the University of Nebraska system and previously served as a superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. The university said Carter is a retired vice admiral who attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as Top Gun, and it cited a national record for carrier-arrested landings with more than 2,000 mishap-free touchdowns.

Carter also inherited a vacancy created by the mid-contract resignation of President Kristina Johnson, the university said. Johnson’s departure was described as largely unexplained, and she had been president since 2020 after serving as chancellor of New York’s public university system.

Jennifer Tisone Price, executive director of the Ohio conference of the American Association of University Professors, said in a statement that students, faculty and staff “deserve better.” She said Ohio State’s next president should be selected through a transparent hiring process that honors shared governance, including faculty input, arguing shared governance “is how universities stay honest.”

Sources cited in the university’s remarks included references to the budget environment Carter oversaw, including a fiscal year 2026 budget totaling $11.5 billion in revenues and $10.9 billion in expenditures. The university said it was not clear that the “resources” referenced in the matter were monetary.