Administration at Northern Michigan University tried to get President Fritz Erickson to resign before was fired Friday.
Northern’s Board of Trustees had been negotiating for Erickson’s resignation for six weeks.
He refused to leave voluntarily by the end of the year because his wife wouldn’t get his compensation if Erickson died before the negotiated payout date.
That led to his immediate termination.
Trustees gave few concrete reasons for Erickson’s firing, only that the university needed a critical thinker who was better able to envision NMU’s future.
An interim president may be named this week.