By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS — The president of the centerpiece institute at the N.C. Research Campus has stepped down after two years.
Dr. Michael Luther, formerly with pharmaceutical companies Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, will remain with the David H. Murdock Research Institute but has moved to business development.
The Murdock Research Institute is a nonprofit corporation created to outfit, own and operate the Core Laboratory Building at the Research Campus in Kannapolis.
The institute has struggled financially.
Dr. Steven Leath, vice president for research for the University of North Carolina, took over day-to-day management of the institute last month. Leath serves on the institute’s board of directors and was interim president before hiring Luther in 2009.
Luther and Leath would not say if the board asked Luther to step down.
Dole Food Chairman David Murdock in 2006 founded the Research Campus, a life sciences hub for agriculture, health and nutrition research. Murdock serves as chairman of the board for his research institute.
Read more in Wednesday’s Post.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.