UConn President Susan Herbst has announced she will step down after the 2018-19 academic year. Herbst, who has led the state's flagship university since 2011, did not give a reason for her decision in a message to the university community, only saying she felt it was the "right time for a change."
Herbst, UConn's 15th president, is the first woman to hold the job since the school was founded in 1881.
Her tenure has included major investment in capital improvements at the school, including the $1.5 billion Next Generation UConn and $864 million Bioscience Connecticut initiatives, which funded major construction on the school's campuses and at UConn Health.
“Being able to lead this outstanding institution has been one of the great honors and privileges of my life,” Herbst said in a message to UConn faculty, staff and students. “UConn has continued to rise in the rankings and grow academically as we embarked on transformational new initiatives, formed vital partnerships, addressed long-standing needs, planned carefully for the future, and made difficult but necessary decisions.”
In a statement, Governor Dannel Malloy praised Herbst as a "transformative and visionary president," saying "she has left an indelible mark on the UConn community, and our state as a whole.”
Herbst says she plans to return to the classroom as a professor of political science at UConn's Stamford campus.
