Mike Davis

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WEST LONG BRANCH — Monmouth University President Paul Brown is retiring, the university announced on Tuesday.

Brown has served as president since 2013, the eighth in the school's 84-year history.

Grey Dimenna, the university's former vice president and general counsel, will serve as interim president during a search for Brown's permanent successor.

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“I didn’t come to the decision to retire lightly, and after many discussions I knew the time was right,” Brown said in a statement. “Monmouth is positioned for a great future and I am confident that the University is in good hands with Grey at the helm.”

During a sabbatical that begins Wednesday, Brown intends to explore "how melding the liberal arts and business disciplines can better prepare students," the statement said. According to a letter to university alumni, trustee board Chairman Henry Mercer said Brown will officially begin his retirement in June.

School officials declined to make Brown available for additional comment.

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"Paul touched many lives during his tenure," Dimenna said. "The entire Monmouth University community wishes Paul an engaged and rewarding retirement."

Brown was appointed in August 2013 and formally inaugurated in April 2014 at a ceremony on the steps of Wilson Hall. Before coming to Monmouth, he served as dean of the business school at Lehigh University and as associate dean at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

He collected a $676,564 salary in 2014, according to a survey from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

“The university made great strides during Paul Brown’s tenure,” said Henry Mercer, chairman of the university's board of trustees. “The reputation of the university continues to grow, with the Polling Institute and the Urban Coast Institute gaining national recognition. Nevertheless, our primary mission is the enhancement of the educational experience of students.

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“Under President Brown, the University’s strategic plan furthered this effort by enhancing academic programs, expanding facilities, and placing a priority on the preparation for life after Monmouth. The athletics programs also have seen national success,” Mercer added.

Brown’s brief tenure was highlighted by an overall boost to the school’s national reputation.

The Monmouth University Poll and its director, Patrick Murray, became household names during the 2016 presidential primary and general elections. Data analysis website Five Thirty Eight has ranked the poll as its most predictive, giving it an A+ grade.

And last year, the men’s basketball team went on a run that ended just short of a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the season, the antics of the team’s “bench mob” were highlighted on ESPN's SportsCenter.

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But the university was also criticized by students and activists when its trustees declined to rename Wilson Hall. In April 2016, students and faculty called for the university to distance itself from former President Woodrow Wilson, a staunch segregationist whose racist views were considered regressive even for his era.

“While Wilson’s racist views are abhorrent, he was a product of his time,” Brown said at the time of the dispute. “Judging the values of a previous era by our own standards could lead toward the path of erasing unpleasant facts of history, which is never an appropriate action for any academic institution."

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The school also faced bias claims under Title IX, stemming from allegations by a female student who alleged that the university mishandled a 2014 sexual assault. The 22-year-old student alleged that she told campus officials that she was raped by a male student, who was not disciplined as part of a university investigation.

Mike Davis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com