Southern Arkansas University President David Rankin announced Thursday he would retire after the next academic year.
Rankin, who is the chairman of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, has been president since 2002. He will officially step down June 30, 2015.
After he became president, Rankin implemented the “Blue and Gold Vision,” an ambitious capital campaign that has raised more than $100 million in 13 years. The fund raising helped build numerous on-campus academic building and paid renovations to the school’s athletic facilities.
Southern Arkansas has seen enrollment increases during Rankin’s tenure that culminated in a system-wide record 5,451 students this past fall. The university said graduate enrollment has increased 200 percent since Rankin became president.
Rankin joined Southern Arkansas in 1968 as an assistant professor of business. In 1977, he was named dean of the school of business administration and he served in that position until 1980 and again from 1994-2001.
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