Overview
Walter "Ted" Carter Jr. has resigned as president of The Ohio State University after telling trustees that he had engaged in an "inappropriate relationship" with a person who was seeking public resources to back her personal business. The university announced the resignation on Monday. Carter had occupied the president's office for two years; the university did not name a successor and did not provide additional detail about the nature of the public resources or the business at the center of the disclosure.
Statement from Carter
"For personal reasons, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my role as president of The Ohio State University," Carter said in a statement. "I disclosed to the board of trustees that I made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership."
Career background
Carter's résumé includes leadership posts across higher education and the U.S. Navy. He is a former president of the University of Nebraska system and of the U.S. Naval War College. Prior to those roles, he served as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and as a commander in the U.S. Navy. Those positions were noted in the university's announcement about his resignation.
Contract and compensation
The university's disclosure included compensation information: Carter's Ohio State salary was roughly $1.2 million as of September 30, 2025. His employment contract at Ohio State was scheduled to run through the end of 2028. The announcement did not indicate any change to those contract terms beyond the resignation itself.
Unanswered questions
The university's statement left several items unspecified. It did not identify the individual involved, describe the public resources that were sought, or explain the nature of the personal business referenced. The trustees have not named an interim or permanent successor, and no timeline for such a designation was provided.
Implications for governance
The resignation centers on the disclosure of an inappropriate relationship involving requests for public resources - a development that raises immediate governance and transparency questions for the university. The announcement confined itself to the facts of Carter's resignation and his disclosure to the board; it did not offer further findings or next steps regarding any institutional review.
This report summarizes the university's announcement and the public details the institution disclosed regarding the resignation of its president.