Wright State University President David R. Hopkins will retire at the end of the next school year. Hopkins announced Monday that he'll step down from the top post when his contract expires June 30, 2017.
Hopkins is the university's sixth president and has held the position since 2007. Prior to that he served as provost from 2003 until being named president. He came to Wright State from Indiana State University in 2001 as senior associate vice president for academic affairs and interim dean of the School of Business.
"Serving as the president of this great university has truly been the most gratifying experience of my 42-year career in higher education," Hopkins says in a letter to the university community. "My goal was to lead Wright State to become a more relevant public research university in meeting the 21st century needs of our students and the communities we serve."
A university spokesman says work to form a search committee for Hopkins' replacement has begun with the hope of having a new president in place by July 1, 2017.
From the university's news release:
Under Hopkins’ leadership, the university has built the Student Success Center, which features high-tech, active-learning classrooms as well as writing and math support labs; the Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building, which promises to spawn pioneering research and medical breakthroughs by housing the collective brainpower of top neuroscientists, engineers and clinicians; and opened the Wright State Research Institute.
In addition, a record $152 million has been raised in the Rise. Shine. fundraising campaign, co-chaired by Tom Hanks and Amanda Wright Lane. This effort will further elevate the school’s pre-eminence by expanding scholarships, endowing professorships and supporting construction of state-of-the-art facilities such as the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures.
“My entire career has been about building an environment where students from all backgrounds can achieve their dreams of an affordable, high-quality education,” said Hopkins. “In addition, I have tried for 10 years to enhance our engagement with the community and bring greater visibility to Wright State. I’m really proud of what we have done.”
