When the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State University System voted 12-4 on Friday to fire John V. Lombardi, the system’s president since 2007, the decision came as a surprise to many in higher education.

But on second thought, many people would say it wasn’t a surprise at all.

Lombardi, who has often been characterized as an outspoken and confrontational leader by peers, supervisors and those who work for him, left his two previous presidencies -- at the University of Florida and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst -- amid disputes with his superiors. While he had numerous successes in those roles, and has had faculty and student backing through some of his controversies, he clashed with governing boards and state politicians, as well as others in higher education.

In Louisiana, he repeatedly spoke out against the governor’s budget priorities and attempts to reshape the system’s governance, made impolitic statements about how plenty of students could afford to pay more tuition, and faced criticism from lawmakers about what they saw as a demeaning attitude, among other things.

That Friday’s decision might have been influenced by state politicians, as the board’s minority claimed, should also not be a surprise to people in public higher education. While members of the board’s majority rejected claims that they were carrying out a directive from the governor’s office, and said Lombardi had not shown the leadership for the system they were hoping for, they noted in Friday's meeting that Lombardi’s relationship