news-record.com

RALEIGH (AP) — N.C. State Provost Larry Nielsen said today he is stepping down from his position because of questions about his hiring of former first lady Mary Easley, saying scrutiny of the situation had become "unbearable."

Nielsen has been criticized for creating a new faculty position that he used to hire Easley, whose husband left his job as governor in January after two terms. He said the scrutiny of the decision was embarrassing, a distraction and that the implication that he was involved in political payoffs was "preposterous."

"I am dismayed that many people outside the university, and some within it, have attributed motives to my hiring of Mrs. Easley that are absolutely false and groundless," Nielsen wrote in a resignation letter. "My only motive, in that action and every other that I have taken as provost, has been to enhance our university's capacity to serve our mission."

The News & Observer of Raleigh recently raised questions about why Nielsen was hired as provost of the 31,000-student school even though he was initially not among the first pool of candidates. He had been serving as interim provost as the university searched for a candidate.

But school officials later changed direction and began considering him. He was named provost in June of 2005, shortly before the university announced Easley would be hired to oversee a lecture series and teach three courses.

Easley got a new compensation agreement last summer that boosted her salary to an $850,000 contract over five years. Nielsen defended the salary by saying she had new duties, working at the Center for Public Safety Leadership and Strategic Legal Partnership. Before joining the university, she had previously taught law at N.C. Central University in Durham.

University of North Carolina system leaders launched a review of the deal.

The newspaper said Nielsen worked closely with Easley ally McQueen Campbell, who chaired the university trustees' personnel committee.

Chancellor James Oblinger said Thursday that it was a sad day for the university. He said Nielsen would not willfully harm the campus and that Easley's hiring was proper.

"This situation is not political patronage. There was no influence exhibited by anyone on anyone ... I can assure you of that," he said.

Nielsen said the personal stress had become unbearable.

"I understand that some people will choose to interpret my resignation at this time as an indication that there is validity to the implications of the newspaper's stories," he said. "I repeat that the implications of these stories are untrue. I also repeat that I am resigning because I can no longer bear the anguish of dealing with these matters on a daily basis and because I hope that the university can now put this matter to rest as well."

Oblinger said he would establish a search committee for a replacement. The university said Nielsen will rejoin the faculty of the campus' College of Natural Resources, where he worked before becoming provost.