In a surprise announcement Friday, University of California, San Diego, said a top-level administrator — who began working at the university in September — will leave next week.
Vice Chancellor of External Relations Keith Brant will end his short tenure at the end of April “to pursue other business interests,” UCSD’s chancellor stated in an e-mail to other university staff. The departure is unusual because it comes in the middle of the academic year.
A former head of alumni relations at UCLA, Brant was hired this year on a $230,000 annual salary to lead the university’s fundraising efforts. His appointment was seen as an important part of the university’s long-standing goal of turning around its history of low alumni giving, and he was slated to kick off UCSD’s new capital fundraising campaign this summer.