By Matthew Keck —
The University of Louisville board of trustees will be losing their third member this year as former board chair David Grissom submitted his resignation Oct. 28.
John Karman, U of L spokesman, confirmed this and said it will be effective as of Dec. 1.
In July of this year Mary Nixon was voted as the new chairwoman of the board, with Grissom slated to remain on the board until his term expired. Grissom also came under fire earlier this year for his comments on the 2013 basketball scandal.
In a recording of a deposition, Grissom said that former President James Ramsey told him that a board member was the cash source behind the scandal. This raised a lot of questions of who the potential source was and why Grissom didn’t give the name of said trustee.
In January of this year Grissom was in the spotlight again for calling President Neeli Bendapudi’s voice “sexy” during a board meeting. Bendapudi dismissed the sexist claims of the comments and said that it was nothing more than humor.
During his time as the chair Grissom was part of major decisions such as hiring Bendapudi. He was also a leading force in the firing of former basketball coach Rick Pitino and Athletic Director Tom Jurich.
U of L ended up with a settlement for more than $7 million to be paid to Jurich, while Pitino ultimately settled with the university not paying him any money.
Under Grissom, the board proceeded with a lawsuit suing Ramsey for unscrupulous spending during his tenure. This lawsuit is still pending.
Grissom was appointed to the board in January 2017 when Gov. Matt Bevin did a complete overhaul. Bevin gave Grissom the longest appointed term set to expire Jan. 13, 2023.
The U of L board now has three spots to fill, with Nitin Sahney and Dr. Fred Williams Jr. both submitting their resignations earlier in September.
File Photo // The Louisville Cardinal
