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McAteer and the northern West Virginia school both confirmed his contract expires on June 30, at which time he will retire.
"We are in the process of transitioning to new leadership for the programs he heads up," WJU spokesperson Rejonis said.
However, she would not comment on whether McAteer’s retirement is related to the federal probe commenced by a NASA fraud investigator who accused him of working with the university to funnel grant money to personal expenses and to benefit the school.
McAteer has been serving for some time as vice-president of WJU and chief executive officer of its Center for Educational Technologies and the National Technology Transfer Center.
He oversees the Mining and Industrial Safety Technology and Training Innovation program as well as other technical and endeavors.
McAteer’s attorney Steve Jory told regional paper the Herald-Star and the Associated Press his decision to step down was not related to the investigation.
“The timing of this departure has been the subject of ongoing discussions for more than 18 months,” he said.
In February, WJU officials confirmed a seizure of records from McAteer’s offices, but it was not known until April that the documents were taken by NASA as well as the US Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General and other parties.
McAteer also runs the university's office of sponsored programs, which receives funding for research to be done at the National Technology Transfer Center.
A staunch advocate of mine safety over his long career, McAteer was director of MSHA from 1992 to 2000 and was known as an international mine safety expert.
He was commissioned to complete independent investigations into the Sago mine explosion in 2006 that killed 12, the 2006 Alma mine fire that took two lives and the 2010 blast at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia where 29 died.
McAteer has organized an annual mine safety and health conference for several years, which featured speakers from research, academia and other industry groups, such as the United Mine Workers of America.
