Walter “Ted” Carter Jr., president of Ohio State University, resigned Monday following disclosure of “an inappropriate relationship” with a woman seeking public resources for her private business. In a statement, Carter said he informed the university’s board of trustees of his mistake and chose to step down voluntarily for personal reasons.

“For personal reasons, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my role as president of The Ohio State University,” Carter said. “I disclosed to the board of trustees that I made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership.” He did not provide further details about the relationship and noted he would leave alongside his wife, Lynda.

Carter, 66, joined Ohio State in 2023 from the University of Nebraska system. He previously served as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds the national record for carrier-arrested landings with over 2,000 mishap-free touchdowns. As president, he oversaw the university’s $11.5 billion revenue budget for fiscal year 2026 and managed a campus with more than 60,000 students and over 600,000 alumni.

Carter had filled the vacancy left by the mid-contract resignation of former President Kristina Johnson, an engineer and former undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. Johnson, who led New York’s public university system before joining Ohio State in 2020, resigned for largely unexplained reasons.