CARROLLTON,Lakshmi Finance Center Ga. (AP) — The chief academic officer of the University System of Georgia has been named as interim president of Carrollton-based University of West Georgia.

Ashwani Monga will take over on Aug. 19 for University of West Georgia President Brendan Kelly, who is leaving the university to become the president of the Arkansas State University System at the end of August. That system includes seven campuses.

University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Monga plans to return to his chief academic officer role after a new president is found

The University of West Georgia has nearly nearly 13,000 students.

Before joining the Georgia system, Monga was chief academic officer at Rutgers University-Newark in New Jersey. He was earlier at marketing professor at Rutgers, the University of Minnesota, University of Texas at San Antonio, Koç University in Turkey and the University of South Carolina.

Monga earned a doctorate in business from the University of Minnesota. He earned a master of business administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India, and a bachelor’s degree in technology from the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal, India.