Dalhousie University is not renewing the contract of Ed Leach, the director of the Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship and one of the architects of the Launch Dal initiative.

Sylvain Charlebois, the Dean of the Faculty of Management, sent an email to faculty last week saying Leach would end his tenure on June 30, 2017, and that a search committee would soon be struck to find his replacement.

Leach, 67, responded with an email to Charlebois saying that he had intended to step down as director in June, but had hoped to continue teaching for another three to five years.

Leach said the “choice to end my Limited Term Appointment was yours not mine. You had the option of renewing for up to 5 years without advertising and you chose not to do so.”

Both emails were leaked to the media late last week and reported first in Allnovascotia.com. [Full disclosure: Dalhousie is a client of Entrevestor, and the author’s daughter works part-time for the Norman Newman Centre.]

Leach and his wife Mary Kilfoil, both professors of management, have been the driving force behind entrepreneurship education at Dalhousie. In the autumn of 2012, they began their Starting Lean course, modeled on the teachings of startup guru Steve Blank, and have held a succession of cohorts in the class ever since.

The Starting Lean course evolved into the Launch Dal initiative, which was held under the umbrella of the Norman Newman Centre. It came to include the opening of the Collider, a startup space in the university’s Killam Library, the summertime Launch Pad accelerator, and the hosting of Canada’s Business Model Competition.

“Launch Dal is embraced by investors, funders and mentors across the region and recognized across the country as a leader in educating students of the fundamental tools necessary to be an entrepreneur today,” said Bob Williamson, the founder of Invest Atlantic and one of the startup community members who contacted Entrevestor in support of Leach. “Launch Dal is what it is today because of a vision that a small group of keen, forward thinking individuals had several years ago and thanks to the then dean’s formidable leadership superstars like Dr. Leach, Mary Kilfoil and their advisory team were allowed to deliver their creativity.”

Both Leach and Charlebois both agree that entrepreneurship initiative has progressed well at the university, and Dal must ensure that it continues to grow and evolve. “With LaunchDal and several other initiatives, the NNCE has done very well over the years, but it is time to scale the Centre up to a new level,” said Charlebois.

He did not refer directly to Kilfoil, though it is understood there is no change in her position at the university.  She declined to comment and a spokesperson for the university could not be reached late Friday.

Leach notes in his email that the centre has raised $2.7 million from funders to scale up Launch Dal, and he said he will do his best to support these efforts in the last six months of his tenure. He added that he does not intend to retire or slow down after June 30, though he did not say what work he would undertake.

Leach also took issue with Charlebois for cancelling regular update meetings with the Newman Centre directors. He added that since becoming Dean, Charlebois has not attend any of the roughly 30 events hosted by the centre other than an event with alumni in Toronto. Leach said these absences are understandable given Charlebois’ busy schedule during the first year of his tenure.