IU President McRobbie to retire next year after 14 years

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Indiana University President Michael McRobbie announced Friday that he plans to retire in June 2021 after a 14-year tenure as one of the school's longest-serving leaders.

McRobbie had informed the school's trustees several months ago that he intended to step down, the school said in a statement. He made his retirement plans public during Friday's virtual meeting of the trustees, who approved a search committee to find his successor.

'œI am immensely proud of all that has been accomplished over the period I have been president,'ť McRobbie said in a statement. 'œAll the change and effort has, I believe, consolidated and elevated IU's position as one of America's premier and leading research universities."

McRobbie, 69, will continue leading IU through the current academic year, during which the school is resuming in-person teaching and research operations halted in the spring by the COVID-19 pandemic.

IU had an enrollment last fall of about 94,000 students across seven campuses and two other locations. The school's current budget is nearly $4 billion.

When he retires next year, his 14 years at IU's helm will have given him the school's longest presidential tenure since John Ryan, who served from 1971 to 1987.

McRobbie came to IU in 1997 from his native Australia and initially served as its first vice president for information technology and chief information officer. He was appointed vice president for research in 2003, named interim provost and vice president for academic affairs for IU Bloomington in 2006, and became IU's 18th president on July 1, 2007.

As IU president and in his other administrative roles, McRobbie oversaw the creation of new entities, including the School of Global and International Studies, which brought IU's world-renowned language programs into a new, $53 million building near the Herman B Wells Library.

The Media School was also formed by combining parts of the telecommunications department with film studies and the journalism school.