After 15 years at the helm, Professor Sir Robert Burgess is bowing out of his role at the University of Leicester.
The vice-chancellor, 67, says his retirement comes at a watershed moment in terms of completed projects and the publication of research results soon, and just "felt right".
He says he will miss the "energy, enthusiasm, and vibrant university community" the most, but will still have a foot in the door of higher education.
Professor Burgess will continue as chairman of the group implementing Higher Education Achievement reports, a system for recording students' achievement alongside their degree certificate, along with his position as chairman of NatCen, the largest independent social research agency.
He will also chair the debate to change degree classes to an average point grade system and has accepted a position as patron of the Shuttlewood Clarke Foundation.
Professor Burgess said he was leaving Leicester in a "healthy position" but said balancing the books for any university was one of the biggest challenges.
"When I first took on the job I thought the university had great potential, but I also thought it was punching below its weight," he said. "I set out to make sure everything we did, we did to the highest quality, so our institutions were areas for enhancement. I also set out to make sure we had a campus that looked good and staff and students were proud of.
"I wanted to open it up more and engage with the community through short courses, art exhibitions and our botanic gardens.
"It's not good enough to be known internationally for your expertise and to sing its praises at that level, when someone down the road in Oadby, doesn't know about it. I think the external judgments of the university show how well we've done – through the prizes, awards and accolades we've achieved.
"When I started, Leicester was in the middle of the league tables, now we're regularly in the top 20 in the UK and top 2 per cent in the world.''
Professor Burgess said the highlight of his time at Leicester had been raising the university's "self-confidence" and the legacy of major achievements, including the study of local history, hyper tension in medicine, mass communication in social science, DNA fingerprinting techniques, space science research and, of course, the discovery of King Richard III beneath a city centre car park.
"This year, three of our staff received national teaching fellowships – the highest accolade you can achieve for teaching. To have three out of the whole of the UK is testament to the quality of our staff.''
He also praised other members of staff. "Everyone here makes the university what it is, from the gardeners who keep our estate looking pristine, to our chefs who have won awards for their cuisine."
Professor Burgess, who was senior pro vice-chancellor at Warwick University before taking on his role at Leicester, said he had seen many changes in higher education, but the largest shift by far was the introduction of course fees of £9,000.
He said: "It changed the finances of all universities with over half of our income now generated by fees."
Professor Burgess said students had a right to high expectations in university facilities and that's why the university had invested in its estate, from a £32 million new library, £16 million refurbishment of the students' union, and £12.5 million in a cardiovascular research institute based at Glenfield Hospital, among others.
Professor Burgess will officially step down on September 30.
