UC regents confirm Ralph J. Hexter as acting Davis chancellor

University of California regents voted Wednesday to confirm Ralph J. Hexter as acting chancellor of UC Davis until a new campus leader is found.

He has served as campus leader since April, when Linda P.B. Katehi was placed on leave while outside investigators examined allegations of misconduct. Katehi resigned in August.

Hexter will remain at his current salary of $400,842, which is 5.9 percent below the base salary for a chancellor, according to UC Davis. He will continue to receive an annual automobile allowance of $8,916, as well as health and welfare benefits.

Hexter was named provost and executive vice chancellor of UC Davis in 2011. Before that, he served as president of Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass.

The UC Office of the President named a search firm and committee of faculty members and students recently to help find a new chancellor to replace Katehi. She resigned after UC officials released investigative findings that cleared her of the most serious allegations related to nepotism and misspending university funds, but determined that she violated some university policies for filing travel expenses and serving on corporate boards. The investigation also found that Katehi had personally and repeatedly sought ways to enhance her online reputation by hiring outside consultants, despite claims to the contrary she made to UC President Janet Napolitano and reporters.

Katehi will remain as a full-time UC Davis faculty member after a yearlong paid sabbatical at her chancellor salary of $424,360.

The committee is expected to recommend a new chancellor to Napolitano and the regents in January.

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 12:33 PM with the headline "UC regents confirm Ralph J. Hexter as acting Davis chancellor."