Executive VP Hale resigns after 16 mos.

and Jorie Green After only 16 months as the University's executive vice president, Janet Hale resigned from the University August 15. She said she left to "pursue another opportunity" in Washington, D.C., but she would not disclose any details about her future employment. "I was proud to be here during this year of transition, to help President [Judith] Rodin launch her administration and to assist two other Penn presidents," Hale said in a statement. "Now that the University is making great progress towards financial well-being it is time for me to return to Washington." Hale -- who served as a finance and budget official during the administrations of former United States Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush prior to her stint at the University -- encountered many difficulties during her short time at the University. During her first days as vice president, The Daily Pennsylvanian found that she was connected to a series of scandals which shook up the U.S. government in the late 1980s. Hale testified before Congress during the summer of 1989 about her role in two Department of Housing and Urban Development controversies -- the funding of a Durham, N.C. housing project and the management of a home-loan insurance program. She approved a key rent-ceiling waiver for an $11 million HUD project in Durham, despite objections from HUD staffers who said that there was environmental waste buried near the site. Former University President Sheldon Hackney, who appointed Hale, said in February 1993 that while he knew Hale worked for HUD, he was unaware of her role in the investigations of the HUD scandals. Hale's involvement in the controversies prompted a rash of criticism from members of the University community before she even moved into her office in the Franklin Building in April of 1993. During Hale's tenure, slowed negotiations between the University and the City of Philadelphia over the acquisition of the Philadelphia Civic Center also prompted campus-wide criticism. Hale, who played a large role on the University's end of the negotiations, first announced last September that the University intended to purchase the Civic Center in order to turn it into an ambulatory care site for the Medical Center. At that time, a finalized contract was projected for the beginning of this year. In January, the date was pushed back to the spring, and in the spring, the date was pushed back again to late summer. To date, the deal has not been completed. Medical Hale blames the halted negotiations on the city and on the fact that the purchase of the Civic Center is a "complicated real estate deal." Rodin said in August that she respects Hale's "desire to move on," and that Hale provided a "very significant service" to the University during her short term. Hale left with "more than a year" left on her contract with the University, she said, causing some to believe that she may have been forced out. But when questioned if she was asked to resign, Hale replied simply, "I resigned." And when she was asked if she was leaving the University on good terms, Hale only said, "I hope so." Rodin said she and Hale are "parting on very good terms." "We both value Penn and Penn's needs and we're both respectful of what we each think it will take for the University to move forward," Rodin said. Rodin added that a search committee and professional search firm will be named sometime in September to find Hale's successor. Until then, retired Executive Vice President of Temple University Jack Freeman will begin work as acting executive vice president. Freeman, who has 39 years of administrative experience in higher education and government, has said that while he is not willing to be considered for the permanent position, he will remain in the interim post until a permanent replacement is found. Prior to arriving at the University, Hale was the associate director for economics and government in the Office of Management and Budget in Washington. Before that, she worked with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.