Updated: In his letter of resignation, University of Illinois Board Chairman Niranjan Shah told Gov. Pat Quinn that he did not enter public service for personal power or to enhance his reputation. So he said he would step aside as the review commission recommended.

“I am not in public service for self-aggrandizement and therefore have no interest in a protracted process regarding my role,” he wrote. “My interest is solely in the vitality of the University of Illinois. I hope those who will serve the University of Illinois in the future, and those who have executive and legislative authority over the University, share the goal and will use their power and influence to achieve that end.”

Shah also noted that he “strongly supported” the creation of the independent commission to fully investigate the admissions practices at the university. He added that his nearly 20 years of public service to higher education was motivated by furthering the public good.

Click here to read the full letter.

Quinn confirmed that he received Shah’s resignation letter today.

“I thank him for his years of service and efforts to promote diversity at the University of Illinois,” Quinn said in a statement. “A search for his successor will begin immediately.”

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Niranjan Shah, the chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, has resigned, according to the Chicago Tribune. He is now the second board member to step down from the nine-member board in the wake of the admissions scandal that has rocked the university for months.

Last week, Lawrence Eppley stepped down from the board and urged other board members and some unnamed university officials to do the same.

And then on Friday, the state commission that Gov. Pat Quinn appointed to review the university’s admissions process recommended that the governor call for all trustees to resign, with the option that he may then reappoint some of them.

The commission has been holding hearings for weeks in which current and former board members and university officials have been testifying about their role in the so-called clout list. The clout list was a special category of well-connected applicants who the university admitted at higher rates than the general applicant pool even though they had lower overall academic credentials. The list was made up of applicants that lawmakers and board members pushed the university to admit.

Since the Tribune first broke news of the clout list, the university has said that it would dismantle the use of the special category.

Shah, a businessman from a Chicago suburb, sought advantages for his friends and relatives in various aspects of the university, the Tribune reported. For example, he helped secure a job for his future son-in-law in 2007. The school created a position for him and gave him a salary of $115,000 without conducting a search, the Tribune said.

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday,com/thegrade.