The Central Michigan University Board of Trustees has appointed the school's provost as interim president.
The board at the Mount Pleasant school on Monday named Executive Vice President and Provost Michael Gealt to the post.
He'll start serving Wednesday and is expected to hold the job until the university's 15th president takes office. The board plans to name a president in August.
The university's President George E. Ross announced in January that he would be stepping down from his leadership role at the end of July.
Gealt became provost at Central Michigan in 2013. He has a Ph.D. in microbiology and has conducted research in environmental microbiology.
He says in a statement that he looks forward to "continuing the strong collaboration with faculty and staff across the university."