EAST LANSING, Mich. – Former Michigan State University president Lou Anna K. Simon will retire effective Aug. 31, according to MSU.
The terms of her retirement allow her the titles of president emeritus and faculty emeritus. The university said she will receive three annual payments for a total gross amount of $2.45 million. She will also receive her vested retirement and other benefits similar to other retiring university executive managers.
Simon served as president from 2005 to 2018. She resigned as president in January 2018 during the criminal sentencing of former sports medicine physician Larry Nassar in Ingham County. Nassar was convicted of sex crimes while working as a doctor for the Olympic women's gymnastics team.
Under her presidential contract, she was returned to a tenured faculty position. She is retiring from that position. Last fall, she went on a voluntary unpaid leave of absence while facing criminal charges in Eaton County.
The case revolves around allegations that Simon wasn't honest with investigators about how much she knew and when she knew about abuse allegations against Nassar, who also served as a sports doctor for the MSU Athletic Department at the time.
Prosecutors say Simon knowingly lied about what she knew. They claim if she had told the truth, Nassar could have been stopped sooner. Simon is charged with lying to police officers, misconduct in office and impeding a criminal investigation.
READ: Judge delays decision on whether former Michigan State President Lou Anna Simon will face trial
“Our campus community is continuing its healing, and the Board of Trustees feel the retirement of Dr. Simon is best for the university,” said Dianne Byrum, chairperson of the Board of Trustees.