Former Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee has announced his resignation as president of Brown University.

According to a released statement Monday, Gee, the 17th president of Brown University, has accepted an appointment as chancellor of Vanderbilt University and is set to leave Brown on April 15. His term at Vanderbilt is scheduled to begin Aug. 1.

“Members of the Brown Corporation are disappointed that President Gee has chosen to leave. He was an energetic and exciting president, and we are sorry his tenure has been brought to an end after two years,” Stephen Robert, chancellor of Brown University, said in a released statement. “I am confident that the student body, faculty and administration will work together to keep Brown moving forward. Brown is an institution of great strength and extraordinary academic quality, ranking among the nation’s and the world’s foremost institutions of higher learning.”

Although Gee’s term at Brown lasted less than three years, Waciuma Wanjohi, communications director for the Undergraduate Council of Students at Brown, said that Gee has left a mark at the university.

Wanjohi said that Gee’s creation of the vice president for Campus Life and Student Services position is among his achievements at Brown. The spot is expected to be filled this semester.

He also said Gee proposed a values initiative, a plan quickly met with great controversy, that would require every department to offer a class that focused on values.

Wanjohi suggested there was some friction within the campus community, since Gee is fairly conservative and the university is fairly liberal. He cited this initiative as evidence.

Although the plan was criticized, Wanjohi said the problem was simply poor publicity and people being misinformed.

However, Wanjohi, who only met Gee on several occasions, enjoyed the dynamic his president created on the campus.

“You should be challenged by different ideas, and Gee very much did that. I think he challenged the university to consider stepping outside of what it had been,” he said. “I don’t know whether or not that would have brought the best outcome, but I think it’s the best process.”

And appraisal of Gee’s legacy does not end at Brown.

Gee was a remarkable man while president of OSU from 1989 through the end of 1997, said Malcolm Baroway, OSU Presidential Fellow, who served in the Office of the President during the Gee administration.

Although it is not clear as to why Gee left Brown, Baroway speculates it may be because Vanderbilt might have a broader group of interests to offer Gee.

“One of the things he loves is to build. There may be more to build in terms of athletics as well as academics,” Baroway said. “Watch out for Vanderbilt academically and athletically over the next five years, because he’ll make things happen.”

Baroway described Gee as a smart man and hard worker who demanded as much effort from his associates as he required of himself. He also described Gee as a fun person to work with.

Baroway conceded that in addition to Gee’s tenacity, his commitment and his drive, his greatest quality may be the one that was transparent to those around him.

“He was a person who was given to making very tough decisions. He was a person that had a persona that the public knew,” Baroway said, “but underneath he was a very caring, sensitive person, which I think a lot of people didn’t see.”