Gordon's parting words

To the UNM Community:

This summer I will complete my fourth year as UNM President and my twenty-fourth year as a member of the UNM community. After long and careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that this is a good time for me to step down from the presidency and to close out my career at UNM. To that end, I have informed Regent Willard of my intention to retire from the University during the summer of 2002.

My career at UNM has been a long and very rewarding one. It has been filled with professional opportunity and with many personal friendships. It has also been a very exciting chapter in my life, because over the past twenty-four years the University has changed so much and has grown so significantly in quality and importance. Certainly the past four years have been particularly exciting for me because when I arrived here in 1978 I never imagined serving in any kind of leadership role at UNM, much less having the opportunity to serve as president.

My decision to leave now rather than a few years from now is based on my belief that the president of a major university like UNM can be maximally effective only for a certain period of time. This is a job that requires an enormous personal commitment and that commitment is one I have done my best to honor to the fullest. My intention has always been to relinquish the presidency before, rather than after, this commitment begins to wane, and that is what I have decided to do. Next Fall, my plan is to return to my Alma Mater, Wake Forest University, to serve as its Provost, a position that will enable me to focus once again on the academic issues that first drew me into administration.

There is no way I could ever repay UNM for all that it has given to me and for all it has meant to me and my family. The only thing I can do is to thank every member of the UNM community and UNM's many friends in the broader community for making this the kind of place where someone could be so happy for so long and the kind of place I will always cherish.

Bill Gordon

UNM President