KBIA: UM System Executive Vice-President to Retire (2009-02-24)

UM System Executive Vice President Gordon Lamb announced Monday that he will retire from his position at the end of the month. UM System President Gary Forsee has called Gordon Lamb his right hand man. Lamb, a 40-year veteran of higher education, had served briefly as interim chancellor of UMKC in 1999 and 2000. In April 2007, Lamb stepped in as interim UM System President after Elson Floyd stepped down. Then, when Forsee took over the UM System last February, he asked Lamb to stay on through the end of 2008 to help ease the transition between university leaders. UM System Chief of Staff David Russell says that Lamb didn't expect to hold the position for the long-term.

"Gordon took the position of executive vice president at the same time that our current president, Gary Forsee, arrived last February. And he always anticipated that he would be in that role for perhaps a year, maybe a little bit longer."

Lamb's departure comes three months after Forsee announced a system-wide hiring freeze in an attempt to stave off potential job cuts:Forsee said Friday that about 500 positions on the UM System's four campuses statewide are currently unfilled because of a system-wide hiring freeze. Russell says that Lamb's position also will remain vacant: