Kirby Godsey, Mercer University's longest-serving president, announced he will retire in 18 months, and trustees expect to start the search for his successor as early as spring.
At a recent trustee meeting, Godsey, 68, revealed his plans to step down June 30, 2006.
Godsey went to work for the historically Baptist university in Macon, Ga., in 1977 as executive vice president and dean of the college of liberal arts. Previously he was vice president and dean of the college at Averett College in Danville.
When Godsey became president in 1979, Mercer had an enrollment of 3,800 students, an endowment of $16.5 million, and a budget of $21.3 million. It grew under his leadership to become Georgia's second largest private university, with an enrollment of 7,300 students, an endowment of more than $176 million, a budget of $173.8 million and 665 faculty members, the university said in a statement.
Associated Baptist Press