News-Letter

At a press conference announcing his resignation, Brody became emotional as he discussed events during his time at Hopkins, including the deaths of two students. Pamela Flaherty, chair of the Board of Trustees, supported him during the conference.

University President William Brody, who has overseen more than a decade of sprawling expansion and catapulted Hopkins into the national spotlight, announced this week that he will retire from his position at the end of 2008.

The Board of Trustees will soon convene a search committee to find a replacement, a sweeping task with far-reaching implications for the direction of the University in coming years.

"After a dozen years in the best job I'll ever have, I informed the Board of Trustees today that I will retire on Dec. 31 as president of the Johns Hopkins University," Brody wrote in an email to the University on Monday.

Brody's tenure, the fifth-longest in Hopkins history, ushered in a transformative process of reidentification, during which the University undertook numerous capital projects and revamped its undergraduate education.

Hopkins administrators, however, are adamant that there will be no significant modifications to the operation of the University following President Brody's departure.

"I don't believe things will change at all," Morris Offit, member of the Board of Trustees and chairman of the Board's last two presidential search committees, including the one that chose Brody in 1996.

Dean Burger seconded the idea, saying, "I think that the University is on a wonderful trajectory and I am confident that we will find someone to continue us on that same trajectory. With any such major transition like this, there is a little lost time, but, on the other hand, new leadership often puts new wind in the sails."

In reaction to the news of Brody's departure, Jerome Schnydman, executive assistant to the president, said, "My guess is he has thought about it for a while because this is a difficult decision to make, as to when he would retire - what would be the right time, the best time for Hopkins and the best time for him."

Some administrators were not surprised with Brody's announcement.

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