LOWELL, Mass. (AP) – University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger resigned Wednesday after months of increasing pressure over his role in the federal investigation of his fugitive mobster brother.

His resignation – the result of what he called “a calculated political assault” against the university by Gov. Mitt Romney – is effective Sept. 1. The board of trustees immediately voted to accept the resignation, and have agreed to pay him more than two years’ salary in a severance package worth close to $1 million.

“These assaults – politically motivated to be sure – come at a time when the University of Massachusetts, like many public universities across the nation, is struggling to cope with the effects of painful budget cuts,” Bulger said after the board accepted his resignation after several hours of closed-door talks. “I hope that the step I take today will be helpful in our effort to provide a measure of protection for the university.”

The 69-year-old Bulger’s departure came just two months after UMass trustees expressed confidence in him even as a storm of protest swirled around him and his recent testimony before a congressional committee investigating the FBI’s ties to its mob informants.

Bulger, who previously had a long tenure as Democratic president of the state Senate, did not name Romney, but alluded to the Republican governor when he described the “assault” on the university. He cited Romney’s failed effort to restructure the five-campus system and eliminate the president’s office.

Bulger also criticized Romney for “character attacks” on trustees, and for the governor creating a “litmus test” for new appointees to the board, referring to Romney’s plan to appoint trustees who would vote to fire Bulger.

Bulger, who left the meeting under escort by campus police, refused to elaborate on the alleged character attacks. But in recent weeks, board chairwoman Grace Fey had faced media questions about her husband’s firm receiving a university contract.

Fey’s eyes watered when Bulger called her a “partner, counselor, and a friend.”

In June, he had testified under a grant of immunity before the panel about his mob brother, Winter Hill Gang leader James “Whitey” Bulger, who has been on the lam since 1995. Whitey Bulger fled just before his indictment on federal charges related to 21 murders.

While admitting he had spoken to his brother once since he fled, Bulger said he has no idea of his whereabouts and said there is little he could have done to steer him from a life of crime. Whitey Bulger is now on the law enforcement agency’s “10 Most Wanted” list alongside Osama bin Laden.

Bulger’s appearance before the congressional panel marked the first time he had spoken publicly about the brief telephone conversation he had with his brother shortly after Whitey fled.

“The tone of it was ‘Don’t believe everything that is being said about me,”‘ Bulger said. “I think he asked me to tell everybody he was OK. … I think I said I hope this has a happy ending.”

In 2001, Bulger told a grand jury he didn’t urge his brother to surrender because he didn’t “think it would be in his interest to do so,” according to a transcript of his testimony obtained by The Boston Globe.

“It’s my hope that I’m never helpful to anyone against him … I don’t feel an obligation to help everyone to catch him,” he said.

Boyle was the lone member of the Board of Trustees who voted against the resignation. Boyle said he objected to the severance package, which includes $695,000 in salary, plus $154,000 for a six-month sabbatical and other accrued benefits, totaling $960,000.

“On the one hand, we’re telling students, faculty workers to tighten their belts. … On the other hand, we’re giving President Bulger close to a million dollars,” said Boyle, who accused trustees of not negotiating. “We paid what they demanded. There was a lot of room to negotiate.”

Other trustees said the money was less than Bulger could have pressed for under terms outlined in his contract.

“I think this agreement is very fair, it’s very reasonable, I think it’s very fair to the university, I think it’s very fair to the president,” said trustee Robert Sheridan.

The board plans to begin searching for a new president soon. Bulger’s future plans are uncertain, but he waived rights to a lifetime faculty position at UMass-Boston.

During his congressional testimony, Bulger denied that he exerted influence when his brother was arrested at an airport trying to carry $500,000 onto a plane. He also was asked if he used his Senate position to quash a federal investigation into a real estate development project known as 75 State Street.

Pressure has mounted against Bulger from a variety of political quarters. Romney, who will get to appoint three new trustees next month, had urged Bulger to resign – as did Reilly, the state’s highest-elected Democrat.

Both said the controversy about Bulger’s relationship with his brother had distracted the school from its educational mission.

Bulger, who became UMass president in 1996 after 17 years as state Senate president, was paid $309,000 in salary and another $48,000 in benefits. His contract was set to expire in 2007.

“It’s a positive development, positive for the students, positive for the university,” Romney said Wednesday afternoon. “I think we can go forward now without a shadow of controversy over the university.”

Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman denied Bulger’s claim that the governor conducted character attacks on trustees. “Absolutely not,” she said… “The controversy surrounding President Bulger was not the governor’s making.”

AP-ES-08-06-03 1928EDT

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