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.’’