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RALEIGH — The chairman of N.C. State's board of trustees resigned Friday following accusations that he acted inappropriately in the hiring of former first lady Mary Easley.

McQueen Campbell said in a letter to Gov. Bev Perdue on Friday that he did nothing wrong during the process of hiring former Gov. Mike Easley's wife. Mary Easley now works at the university on a five-year contract that will pay her $850,000 for running a campus speaker series and a public safety center.

N.C. State Provost Larry Nielsen resigned a day earlier, citing scrutiny of his role in hiring Mary Easley.

Campbell, who had six weeks left on his term, said he was stepping down from a post he loved because he wants what's best for the university. He wrote that he did not want his presence "to distract in any way from the great work of the University."

"I am not resigning because I have acted inappropriately," Campbell wrote. "Both the Chancellor and the Provost have communicated publicly and independently that the hiring process of Mary Easley was free from any improper influence."

Perdue accepted his resignation Friday, saying she believes it is in the best interest of N.C. State.

Campbell did not immediately return a voice mail message left at his office, and the man who answered the phone there said Campbell wouldn't return until Monday. Calls to a number listed for a McQueen Campbell in Raleigh were answered by a recorded message saying it wasn't accepting incoming calls.

Erskine Bowles, president of the University of North Carolina system, told the News & Observer on Thursday that he had asked Campbell to resign to protect N.C. State's reputation but said he didn't believe anything "nefarious" occurred.

"I'm very disappointed with this whole matter," Bowles said.

The News & Observer reported last weekend that Campbell often flew Gov. Easley in his planes and bragged of his influence. The governor appointed Campbell twice to the N.C. State board.

Bowles said Mary Easley has a contract, but her duties would "all be reviewed in the appropriate manner especially as we look at where we're going to place our budget going forward."

Mary Easley did not immediately return a voice mail message left at her N.C. State office on Friday or respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press.