Dan Bradley’s announcement that he will step down as Indiana State University president in January caught many off guard, but it’s been in the works for a few months, he said during a news conference Wednesday.
“While this is a well-guarded secret, it’s not a surprise or unplanned,” he told a group of administrators, faculty and staff in the Tirey Hall State Room. He’s been in discussion with the ISU board of trustees for months.
Bradley, 67, Indiana State’s 11th president, has held that role since summer 2008. Upon his resignation as president in January, he will take a year-long sabbatical that he and wife, Cheri, will spend in California.
Then, the Bradleys plan to return to Terre Haute, and Bradley anticipates working part-time in some capacity at ISU. He is a tenured faculty member in the chemistry department.
“It’s really about family and time,” Bradley said in explaining why he is stepping down. “We have lots of things we want to do and we’ve got lots of grandkids we need to take care, and you can’t do this job part-time.” He turns 68 in August.
As far as timing, Bradley said he wanted to get through the legislative session, which “turned out pretty successfully,” and he also wanted to minimize the “lame duck period.”
“We’ve kind of planned it [announcement] to be abrupt,” Bradley said in an interview. “You’re only president until you announce you’re not going to be president. We don’t do anybody any favors by making the lame duck period any longer than necessary.”
The Bradleys have children, and grandchildren, in California and Montana. “It’s time to reconnect with them,” Cheri said in the same interview.
“The past nine years have been amazing and rewarding for Cheri and me,” Bradley said during the official announcement. “As has often been said, however, there is a time for everything. Now is our time to reflect, to enjoy our grandkids, and to plan our next great adventure. Seventeen years as a university president and a first lady on two campuses is undoubtedly enough.”
Prior to ISU, he served as president for about eight years at Fairmont State University in West Virginia.
In March 2014, Indiana State trustees approved a contract extension for Bradley through June 2019, so he is stepping down 18 months early.