ROCKFORD Ill. (AP) — Rockford University President Robert Head says he's retiring next summer.

Head said in a news release Monday that he will work through June 30, 2016, when his current contract ends. He says he's giving an early heads up so the university's Board of Trustees has time to find a replacement.

Head became the school's 17th president in 2008. He previously was president of Urbana University in Ohio.

Board Chairman Thomas A. Muldowney says the university has had "tremendous and transformative success" under Head's leadership. That includes transitioning from Rockford College to Rockford University in 2013.

Muldowney says the board will undertake a national search for a new president.

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