After nine years of serving as the president of South Dakota State University, David Chicoine announced on Monday that he will be retiring from the position.

Chicoine, 68, will be leaving on July 1, 2016 or as soon as a new president is hired and assumes office according to the South Dakota Board of Regents press release.

“I have agreed to serve as the president of this University until they find somebody else,” Chicoine said during the town hall meeting on Monday afternoon. “My preference would be that they get after the search and by the fall of 2016, the next president has been recruited and ready to go to work. I think the University is in an extremely strong position to be very competition in the marketplace.”

Chicoine serves as the 19th president of SDSU after starting in 2007. If a president is chosen by fall of 2016, Chicoine plans to apply for a sabbatical leave for that semester and return to faculty responsibilities in the Department of Economics in spring 2017.

“Thank you, it’s been a privilege…We’ve got more work to do,” Chicoine said during the town hall meeting following a standing ovation from the crowd.

The SDBOR will announce soon a presidential search process and timeline for securing Chicoine’s successor.

Chicoine is a native of Elk Point, S.D. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from SDSU in 1969, master’s degrees in economics from the University of Delaware and agricultural economics from Western Illinois University and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois.