Eastern Michigan University President Susan Martin announced today she'll step down as president in July.
Martin will take a one-year sabbatical before returning to EMU as a tenured professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance in the College of Business.
The announcement came during a planned budget update meeting in front of faculty, students and staff.
Martin said she'd been thinking about what the next chapter of her life should be since December.
"Sitting by the fire in a normal residence, not the big university house, I kind of liked that," she said. "I thought, this might be time [to move on], at the end of my seventh year."
Martin said she'll use her sabbatical to write scholarly articles and get ready to go back to the classroom.
"I've always enjoyed working with students, and I love them here at Eastern, but I don't get as much time with them as I'd like," she said. "You can build a better relationship [with them] teaching, being in the classroom and advising."
Martin took over as EMU's president in 2008, following John Fallon's termination amid scandal. She was the first woman to hold the position
The University's Board of Regents said finding Martin's successor will be the board's "top priority," and will form a search committee to find an "outstanding candidate."
