Dr. Ron Mitchelson named new interim chancellor at East Carolina

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- East Carolina University has a new interim chancellor less than a week after the former acting leader stepped down in controversy.

University of North Carolina System Interim President Bill Roper said in a statement Thursday that Dr. Ron Mitchelson has been named as interim chancellor at ECU.

"Dr. Mitchelson has held several faculty and administrative positions at the university," Roper said. "He came to ECU in 1999 and has served as provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs with distinction since 2015."

The former interim chancellor, Dan Gerlach, submitted his resignation Saturday. Gerlach had been on administrative leave since September 30 after photos were published of him at a bar with students

Mitchelson has served in his place during that time.

"As a longtime member of Pirate Nation, Ron will do a great job leading the university while the ECU Chancellor Search Committee begins the vital work of identifying the university's next chancellor," Roper said.

Before coming to Greenville, he held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Georgia and at Morehead State University in Kentucky.

"My 20 years at ECU have been, by far, the most rewarding years of my life," Mitchelson said in a statement released by the university. "The university has afforded me so many opportunities to grow as an educator and as a leader.

"I am humbled and privileged to lead this great university, and I appreciate the responsibility that President Roper has entrusted to me," he added.