University of Akron president Scott L. Scarborough has appointed an interim chief of staff, pending board approval, according to an email sent Tuesday, May 3, to faculty and staff.

William Lyons, currently the interim associate dean for the social sciences in the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences, will assume the new role May 9. He will take over the duties currently carried out by Paul A. Herold, who will retire at the end of May, the email said. Herold has worked with the University of Akron since 1980. He has been a special assistant to the president since 2008 and a staff officer of the Board of Trustees since 2010. Lyons also is the director of the Center for Conflict Management and a professor of political science at the university. He joined the campus as an assistant professor of political science in 1996.