LSU System President John Lombardi was fired Friday by the system’s governing board, a move Lombardi supporters said was orchestrated by Gov. Bobby Jindal after continued clashes between Lombardi and the administration over higher education policy.

The Board of Supervisors voted 12-4 to remove Lombardi, putting him on administrative leave until his contract ends at the start of the new year. All of Jindal’s appointees, along with four other board members, voted for Lombardi’s ouster.

“Some of us believe our current leader has not assisted us in reaching our true potential,’’ said board Chairman Hank Danos, a Jindal appointee from Larose. “We haven’t seen the vision and true leadership we deserve.’’

Lombardi was hired in 2007 after receiving strong praise for his years of experience in higher education. But his tenure in Louisiana has been marked with budget struggles and management disputes, and he’s rankled some for his outspoken candor and combative manner.

“He speaks his peace, but he has LSU at heart,’’ said board member Tony Falterman, of Napoleonville, who angrily disputed the quick decision-making and opposed the firing. “If everybody liked him, he wouldn’t be doing his job.’’

Lombardi’s criticized the politically popular free college tuition program called TOPS, and he’s clashed with the Jindal administration over budget plans, construction of a new public hospital in New Orleans and higher education management.

He led LSU’s multiple campuses, medical schools, public hospitals and clinics through multiple rounds of budget cuts handed down by the governor and the Legislature — and he complained loudly about the effects those reductions had on the institutions.

When asked if the administration pushed for Lombardi’s removal, Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin replied in a statement: “It was the board’s decision and we fully support it. LSU is a great university system and it deserves a great leader.’’

At Friday’s meeting, Lombardi was both praised and panned for his in-your-face style, in an unusually direct and heated exchange for the LSU governing board, which usually supports appointments and decisions unanimously after working out differences behind the scenes.

Critics said Lombardi has not worked well with chancellors of LSU’s individual campuses or with lawmakers and the governor, who determine state funding to colleges and university institutions. And they said the situation has grown more critical as the state faces continued budget shortfalls that could deepen cuts to public colleges.

“We unfortunately do not have the kind of credibility we need with the administration. We do not have the credibility we need with the rank-and-file legislator,’’ said Steve Perry, a board member from New Orleans, who said the idea of removing Lombardi has been quietly discussed for months.

Lombardi backers said the president’s firing was arranged overnight and surprised them.

“You guys are doing what you’ve been instructed to do. Why don’t you fess up and face it and say what the hell is going on?’’ said board member Alvin Kimble of Baton Rouge, who voted against firing the system president.

Lombardi wasn’t at the board meeting when the vote to remove him was taken. The board immediately voted for an interim replacement: William Jenkins, a former LSU System president and former chancellor of the university’s flagship campus.

As system president, Lombardi oversaw a $3.5 billion network of four university campuses, a law school, medical schools in New Orleans and Shreveport and a network of 10 public hospitals and dozens of clinics across Louisiana. In addition, he is a history professor at LSU’s main campus.

“I have been very pleased with his leadership. He’s brought us through some very, very difficult times,’’ said Lake Charles board member Laura Leach, an 18-year veteran of the governing panel and the supervisor who led the search committee that chose Lombardi five years ago.

Lombardi’s pay package with LSU totals $601,000 a year, and his contract runs through Jan. 1, 2013.

Under the terms of his appointment, Lombardi will continue to receive his base salary of $450,000 until January, but not the additional pay supplement or housing and vehicle allowances he had received as president.

From 2002 until arriving at LSU, Lombardi was chancellor of the University of Massachusetts flagship campus, where his supporters said he was pushed out by the five-campus system’s president and the board of trustees. He was lauded as a strong fundraiser and forceful advocate for the campus, but criticized as a stubborn and argumentative leader who refused to go along with plans to streamline the campus system.

Before that, Lombardi was chief of the University of Florida from 1990-99, gaining popularity with alumni and students for raising the school’s academic standing. He was also known for hot-tempered outbursts when he disapproved of policies and administrators.