FRANKFORT — The Council on Postsecondary Education voted Tuesday to not renew its contract with president Gordon Davies, which expires in June.

        The council wants to “express our sincere appreciation to Gordon Davies for the vision and determination he has brought to the work of postsecondary education reform,” said chairman Charles Whitehead in a statement. “The remarkable story of postsecondary reform now begins its next chapter. We want to start the search for Gordon's successor now so that he or she will have the opportunity to work with the architect of this reform, Governor Paul Patton.”

        The council on Tuesday named executive vice president of the council Sue Hodges Moore interim president, effective June 16.

        Mr. Davies did not take calls for comment Tuesday but did release a statement.

        “I shall not comment on the council's decision,” Mr. Davies said. “It is theirs to make and I respect their right to do what they think is best for Kentucky.”

        Cabinet Secretary Crit Luallen said on Monday that as Mr. Patton nears his last 18 months in office, he has discussed with council members the best way to make sure higher education reform — one of his most visible legacies — survives. Support for Mr. Davies has not always been unanimous, Mr. Luallen said.

        “Gordon Davies has done an outstanding job,” Mr. Patton said on Tuesday. “Yes, he's gotten in some difficult fights. He has gotten some scars. Not from me. I applaud the job that Gordon Davies did.

        “But as we approach the end of our administration, the continuity of the council's leadership is a question that we have suggested that the council needs to evaluate. ... I assume that is what they did,” he said.

        Mr. Davies, a native of New York, came to Kentucky in 1998 after a 20-year stint as director of Virginia's Council of Higher Education. His task was to cement Kentucky's fledgling reform — a charge that included improving both higher education and economic development, as well as creating cooperation between the state's eight public universities.

        But early on, Mr. Davies made it clear he was uninterested in the byzantine politics that snake between higher education and the General Assembly. His blunt, intellectual and autocratic style irritated some legislators.

        Mr. Whitehead said the next president should bring stability to the transition from Mr. Patton's administration to the next one.

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