The University of Michigan has removed its president following allegations of a sexual affair with a school employee.

• The University of Michigan removed Mark Schlissel as president due to an alleged sexual affair, the school declared.
• The university appointed former president Mary Sue Coleman in an interim role.

Mary Sue Coleman was appointed interim president of the University of Michigan following the removal of Mark Schlissel as president due to an alleged sexual affair.

The University of Michigan board of regents wrote on the school's website that Schlissel, 63, had an "inappropriate relationship" with a university employee and used his university email account to communicate with the employee in a manner inconsistent with the dignity and reputation of the University.

The university released 118 pages of email exchanges that demonstrate this improper behavior and also included the letter sent to Schlissel explaining the decision to remove him.

In one of the emails, Schlissel referred to the employee as "more attractive" and last month, Schlissel suggested giving the individual a private briefing at the Big Ten Championship game. The three-page letter informed Schlissel that he had 30 days to leave the president's house at the university.

The Detroit Free Press reported tension with board members months before Schlissel's ouster, which was announced last October.

Since 2014, Schlissel has served as president of the school and earned an annual base salary of $927,000, as reported by the Associated Press.

She led the University of Michigan from 2002-2014. Coleman's interim presidency will continue until at least this summer when the board may select a new president.

Although saddened by the circumstances, I am honored to be asked to serve the University of Michigan once again. When I left the U-M campus at the end of my presidency in 2014, I said that serving this great university was the most rewarding experience of my professional life. I am thrilled to be back in this important interim role.