Former University of Missouri president Elson Floyd battling cancer

Former University of Missouri System president Elson Floyd is battling cancer and has gone on medical leave from his post as president at Washington State University.

Floyd, 59, is battling colon cancer, Washington media have reported.

Washington regents granted the leave last week.

“These have been incredibly challenging times for me, and it is with great regret I ask to take a leave of absence to address this personal battle with cancer,” Floyd said in a university statement.

Floyd was named president of the four-campus Missouri system in November 2002, after serving as president of Western Michigan University. He served in the UM post four years and left in 2007 for the WSU job.

Floyd took over the MU system and quickly whacked almost $200 million from the system’s budget and raised tuition 20 percent to offset state funding cuts. He also boosted enrollment and established two new university research parks.

He tenure was also marked by controversy surrounding MU basketball player Ricky Clemons, who attended a Fourth of July party at Floyd’s university residence. At the time, Clemons was living in a halfway house after pleading guilty to assaulting his former girlfriend. He wrecked an all-terrain vehicle at the party and ended up hospitalized and went to jail for violating halfway house rules.