Stanford president resigns to teach, effective next summer

The Associated Press STANFORD, Calif. -- The president of Stanford University has announced he will step down next year as head of the prestigious university, but he said he won't go too far. Gerhard Casper, a 61-year-old constitutional law scholar, said Tuesday that he will resign next summer, take a sabbatical and then return to teach at Stanford. ''I always carry the Constitution with me, as is well known. And the 22nd Amendment says eight years is the maximum for the president of the United States. If eight years is good enough for the president of the United States, it's good enough for me,'' he said. Casper has recently faced criticism over the financially troubled merger of Stanford's teaching hospital with the University of California at San Francisco's hospitals. Together, they lost $60 million in the second year after the merger. While president of Stanford, a job that paid him $375,622 last year, Casper has focused on improving undergraduate curriculum and launching a new program for freshmen and sophomores that encourage mentoring relationships between students and faculty. Stanford Provost John Hennessy said Casper has shown that a university president can provide dedicated leadership while maintaining intellectual vitality. ''I particularly admire his active engagement with the academic programs of the university as well as his significant interaction with individual faculty and students,'' Hennessy said. Casper said he had no regrets for his time at the top. ''Let me invoke my favorite adjective in student's use these days for anything they like: awesome," he said. "This is an awesome university and I have had no disappointment.''