Undated file photo of Oregon Health & Science University.
Courtesy of Michael McDermott / OHSU
OHSU’s board will take more time to select a replacement for resigning president Danny Jacobs.
The board had planned to vote Friday on appointing Dr. Nate Selden to the role for a three-year term, less than a day after Jacobs announced he was stepping down.
Instead, after private deliberations, they agreed to table their vote and take more time, leaving Jacobs in place until a replacement is named.
Gov. Tina Kotek had expressed reservations about the vote, saying it would be a mistake to approve a new president without due diligence. Kotek said in a statement Friday she appreciated the board taking her feedback.
At the meeting, board chair Chad Paulson thanked Selden for stepping up.
“I have no doubt he will continue to be a top candidate for the position,” Paulson said.
Jacobs has not explained his decision to resign, aside from saying it was for “personal reasons.”
“I am pleased to have had the opportunity to work for and with you,” he told the board.
The announcement came shortly after a faculty member sued the school, accusing OHSU of defamation and retaliation.
The lawsuit alleges that in 2023, OHSU‘s senior leadership, including Jacobs, scapegoated Dr. David Jacoby for the university’s mishandling of a student’s complaint that a professor was secretly and inappropriately photographing their classmates.
Jacoby, who was dean of the OHSU Medical School at the time, alleges in the lawsuit that the school’s civil rights office lost and then inappropriately dismissed the student’s complaint. When the media learned that the professor had been awarded a large bonus after he’d been accused of misconduct, Jacobs and his advisors tried to force Jacoby to say he’d been at fault, the lawsuit claims.
Attorney Paul Buchanan, who filed the civil lawsuit on behalf of Jacoby, said he had no specific information connecting the lawsuit to Jacob’s resignation, but he didn’t dismiss the idea.
“The fact that OHSU announced the decision approximately six hours after our lawsuit was filed and reported on in the papers seems to me to be very unlikely to be a coincidence,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan called Jacobs’ resignation a positive step for OHSU.
“From my vantage point, it appeared that President Jacobs managed through fear and intimidation,” he said.
An OHSU spokesperson declined to comment on the suit.