The suit filed in Jefferson Circuit Court claims that during the period from 2008 to 2016, Ramsey and others conspired to divert millions of dollars from the Foundation’s endowment into speculative and unauthorized ventures, putting the Foundation at risk. The suit further charges that these individuals depleted the endowment through complicated – and often unauthorized – transactions designed to avoid scrutiny and circumvent the Foundation’s approved rules and annual budget.

The suit also claims that Ramsey and his chief of staff, Kathleen McDaniel Smith, colluded to pay excessive compensation to themselves and others. It further states that they intentionally concealed the improper expenditures and compensation, and that their actions caused the Foundation to lose millions of dollars.

Also named in the suit are former finance officers Michael Curtin and Jason Tomlinson; former Foundation Chair Burt Deutsch; and law firm Stites & Harbison, which served as the Foundation’s legal counsel.

“Millions of dollars of donations originally intended for the benefit of the University and its students instead were used to pay excessive compensation,” said UofL Trustees Chair David Grissom. “Other funds were directed toward risky and inappropriate investments, and spending regularly exceeded the Foundation’s own policy.”

“We have implemented new controls at the Foundation to insure this never happens again,” said UofL Foundation Chair Earl Reed. “Now it is time to turn this mess over to the lawyers for clean-up, while the rest of us focus on turning a new page at UofL and the start of an exciting chapter of growth and excellence. We owe it to our students, the Cardinal Nation and our generous donors to hold these individuals accountable and to recover as much of the misspent funds as possible.”

Pinto transitioned to  after the Board of Trustees accepted former President James Ramsey’s resignation. He was vacationing with his family in Hilton Head at the time.

“I was sitting on the couch with my son watching a movie. I was actually almost asleep. I don’t think he knew that,” Pinto said. “I got the call and was informed that I was now acting president of the university … I have to be honest, it’s been a whirlwind for me this past week.”

Pinto has been at UofL just shy of five years, first arriving on campus in September 2011 to serve as dean of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering and professor of chemical engineering. He was appointed interim provost in July 2015. The job included oversight of the university’s academic programming and day-to-day operations.

Though he admitted to being surprised by the abrupt transition, Pinto said he is honored that the Board of Trustees asked him to lead the institution in this interim period.

“What I recognized very quickly was that there is a flood of support for us to move forward. I’ve heard from many faculty, staff, student, alumni and community members, expressing their support for the university and for me to move it forward,” he said. “That has really encouraged me, and I’ve started gaining confidence that we can do it.”

As provost, Pinto was charged with the implementation of the university’s and said that the plan will continue to be the structure he and his leadership team will use.

“It’s an exciting plan. It connects to what’s most important for us here and that is a first-rate education for the students. It’s about student success, quality of programs, putting out outstanding research,” he said. “It connects to our service to the community, service in a way that is unique for a university – our ability to bring our intellectual potential to provide long-range solutions for our community.”

Pinto credited a strong team, including vice presidents and deans, for helping to bring these objectives to fruition. He also credited faculty and staff for making sure the university didn’t miss a beat during the transition.

“The task right now is to get ready for almost 3,000 students coming in as our freshmen class and the 22,000-some students that will be coming back to campus for the fall semester,” Pinto said. “I’m excited. I feel optimistic. I feel energized.”

Pinto fielded some questions from the media on a variety of issues, including:

• The impact of ongoing distractions, including the debate between the governor and attorney general about which board of trustees is in charge. Pinto said he is optimistic the judicial process will work itself out and that both boards are supportive of moving the university forward, underscoring that this debate has no impact on the day-to-day operations of the university. He also added that he has kept the chairmen of both boards, Larry Benz and Junior Bridgeman, in the loop.

“From my perspective, the board of trustees is about establishing policy for the university. Operationally, we function fairly effectively in this environment. We can still function well and deliver,” he said.

• When asked about whether he would want the president’s job permanently, Pinto said: “This is not about me right now. It’s (about) what the university needs. I think it needs a competitive, national search for a leader. The board of trustees will define the type of leader that’s required. Right now, I’m thinking about moving this university forward.”

Pinto added that he is just reacting right now. “I don’t expect this (role) to go very long. I think a search will start as soon as the board is finalized, and then we’ll move on. Right now, my focus is providing continued leadership, and that’s more important than anything I need to do for myself right now.”

• About the possibility of more tuition hikes, Pinto said that historically UofL has done better than the average university for student debt after they graduate (about $37,000 for the national average and $26,000 for UofL graduates).

“When we cut costs, it often comes at the price of quality … It’s an optimization of all of our resources to get to our objective of providing a high quality education at the lowest price,” he said. “It’s a really complex problem and isolating it as one or two factors oversimplifies it in my view.”

Pinto reiterated that we are currently operating on a spending plan right now. “There are a lot of implications for students if we don’t establish a spending plan,” he said.

• Asked if he was concerned about the reputational impact any recent issues have had, Pinto said, “Yes, ideally I do not want to be on the front page for this reason. We have, however, a very strong university. For example, last week, our faculty won $4 million in research awards. So things are going on,” he said. “This is a very strong institution, and I recognize that. I have learned to appreciate its strength. I think we will be all right.”

• Pinto said he is not concerned about the upcoming Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation being affected by the leadership transition. There are criteria within the accreditation requirements that speak to governance and whenever there is a change in governance, the university has to notify the accrediting authority.

“There have been some changes, and we have notified them. We will continue to work with the agency, and we’re hopeful that there will be a quick resolution,” he said.

• Pinto called Ramsey’s leadership “transformational.” “If you look at where the university was when he came and where it is now, that’s the only conclusion I can come to. I can tell you that when I worked with him both as interim provost and dean, he was very creative, he was committed to the students, he was committed to the institution – all elements that transformed this university,” he said. “So that’s the record. That’s not going to change.”

• Pinto ended his meeting with a message to the students, promising that the university’s commitment to them has not changed.

“I want to make sure that the discussions and challenges we are having around decisions on governance are completely transparent to them so that their experience will be the same whether this happened or not,” he said. “I will be transparent in everything I do. That’s in my DNA. Academics is about openness, and that’s the way I am.”

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Twenty-two students and alumni (as of May 3) have earned some of the world’s most prominent scholarships. The awardees will head to destinations throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

“We repeatedly talk about our goal to be a premier, nationally recognized, metropolitan research institution and these results make it clear that we are achieving that goal,” said UofL President James Ramsey. “Our prestigious scholar program is a point of pride that showcases UofL’s many opportunities for student global engagement.”

Fourteen scholars earned Fulbright awards — matching the university’s all-time record (set in 2010 and 2011) for number of awards in a single year. That number makes it likely that UofL will among the nation’s top public institutions for the prominent prize. Since 2003, UofL has had 103 Fulbright awardees, more than all other Kentucky public institutions combined.��

Patricia Condon, who heads the national and international scholarship program, said there were originally 30 Fulbright candidates for 2016. Of those, 21 were selected by the U.S. selection committee and recommended to various countries — a high success rate that earned UofL recognition from Fulbright award organizers.

Besides the 14 who were ultimately selected for the award, two were declined, four were chosen as alternates and one is still waiting to hear.

Those receiving are:

• , Carlisle, graduating senior, political science, will teach in Estonia.
• , Glendale, graduating senior, anthropology, will teach in Jordan. He also earned a Critical Language Scholarship and will spend part of the summer in Morocco.
• , Villa Hills, 2015 graduate, English and humanities, will teach in Belarus.
• , Louisville, graduating senior, economics, will teach in Malaysia.
• , Louisville, third-year medical student, will conduct research on traumatic brain and spinal cord injury in sub-Saharan Africa in Malawi.
• , Louisville, third-year medical student, will conduct research on mother-to-child HIV transmission in Kenya.
• , Bardstown, 2013 graduate, political journalism, will conduct research and study journalism at Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
• , Jeffersonville, Indiana, graduating senior, English, will conduct research and study of literature in Trinidad and Tobago.
• , Bowling Green, 2014 graduate, economics and Spanish, will teach in Indonesia.
• , Louisville, graduating senior, English and humanities, will teach in Malaysia.
• , Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduate student, geography, will conduct research on conservation efforts in Namibia
• , Fort Mitchell, graduating senior, middle and secondary education, will teach in Spain.
• , Louisville, graduating senior, Spanish and political science, will teach in Colombia.
• , California, graduate student, education, will teach in Brazil.

Five students were selected as , including Brawner, who is also a Fulbright. The other four are:

• , Manchester, junior, political science and economics, will travel to Oman for immersion in Arabic.
• , Elizabethtown, sophomore, political science and history, will travel to Oman for immersion in Arabic.
• , Elizabethtown, junior, anthropology, will travel to China for immersion in Chinese.
• , Louisville, sophomore, political science and history, will travel to Morocco for immersion in Arabic.

The university previously announced that won Kentucky’s only Truman Scholarship, won a Goldwater Scholarship, won a Whitaker International Fellows Award and won a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals.