AbstractUnanticipated departures of CEOs place demands upon interim leaders. From the literature a model is derived that illustrates problems of sense‐making, enactment, communication, and organizational learning faced by these leaders and their internal and external stakeholders. A case, which focuses on the sudden resignation of the president of American University for making obscene phone calls to an area day‐care worker, is used to illustrate the model. Comparisons are made in the corporate world with executive transitions at Kodak and American Express. Alternatives are suggested for improvements in communication and interim leadership when traumatic executive departures place severe and unfamiliar pressures on governance structures. © 1995 by John Wiley&Sons,