Eugene P. Trani says he's going to listen to his doctor's advice and step down next July as president of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Trani, who nearly five weeks ago underwent quintuple coronary artery bypass surgery, said his decision to resign a year earlier than planned was the result of that "very difficult and different experience."

But he did admit that this has been "a summer of challenges" for the university, a reference to VCU's investigation into the improper awarding of an undergraduate degree to former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe and concern about university research for Philip Morris USA.

Now, VCU's board of visitors will launch a nationwide search for Trani's successor, but some are speculating there's already a candidate close to home.

VCU Rector Thomas G. Rosenthal acknowledged that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine might be interested in the job after completing his term six months after Trani steps down.

"If the governor wishes to apply, we would be honored," Rosenthal said.

William H. Leighty, Kaine's former chief of staff, said the governor has expressed interest openly in becoming president of VCU.

"It's a pretty open secret," said Leighty, who directs the Government Performance Initiative at VCU and teaches a class there in public administration.

Kaine, who under state law can't seek re-election in 2009, also is on the short list of possible vice presidential running mates for presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Last night, appearing with Senate candidate Mark R. Warner at Democratic fundraiser in Richmond, Kaine was asked whether he would succeed Trani as VCU's president.

"Who knows?" Kaine said. "I've got a lot of challenging decisions ahead of me in the near-term," he said, referring to the state's budget picture.

Asked if he is interested in the position, Kaine said, "That's too early to say." He added that he is a big fan of Trani.

. . .

Rosenthal said the board of visitors worked on a succession plan for Trani in April and would revisit the plan at a meeting next week. But the university should have no shortage of contenders for the job Trani has held since 1990.

Trani "has made this a really attractive job," said Sheldon M. Retchin, VCU's vice president of health sciences.

Retchin was among a small group of university staff members who attended Trani's resignation announcement yesterday in VCU's Scott House, a historic mansion on West Franklin Street.

Retchin said he did not think the stress from the past few months of controversy had anything to do with either Trani's decision to resign or his bypass surgery.

"You can't make stress plug up an artery," he said.

Retchin said Trani handles the challenges of his job "better than anyone I know."

During his news conference, Trani said he would not address the recent turmoil. But he did say that his "one regret about what's gone on this summer" is the impression that "there is an air of fear and intimidation at VCU. That's not the VCU I know."

Some faculty members have complained about their treatment during an internal VCU investigation to determine how the university awarded a degree to Monroe, now police chief in Charlotte, N.C., even though he fell short of the university's own requirements. The board of visitors will discuss the allegations about the handling of the investigation during its meeting Wednesday.

Dan Ream, VCU's faculty senate president and an untenured faculty member, said he never has been afraid to speak his mind.

"I don't feel intimidated by him. I don't feel afraid to say what is true," he said.

Ream said the majority of the faculty respects Trani and will be sad to see him step down -- even those whom Trani might have rubbed the wrong way.

"What he's done in 18 years is remarkable," Ream said. "He's given his life to this place. . . . I'm sure that has taken a toll on him."

Jibran Muhammad, president of the VCU Student Government Association, said Trani has raised VCU's stature around the state.

"He has put the university on the map, where degrees are worth more to students," said Muhammad, a senior and political science major from Northern Virginia.

. . .

Trani said he will become a VCU professor in July and continue to work on several books, one of which will be published in April.

He currently receives $410,753 in salary and an incentive bonus from state and foundation funds, plus $157,015 from a deferred compensation plan.

He noted that even with his early departure, he will have served as VCU's fourth president two years longer than he originally had planned. The board of visitors in 2005 had requested that he remain until July 2010.

Trani, 68, said he could not recall ever taking a sick day as president, so his surgery "came as a total surprise."

But he does not "intend to act like a lame-duck president" during his last year. One goal he hopes to accomplish is to increase the number of Richmond public school students who attend VCU. Of about 3,750 freshmen arriving on campus this weekend, only 54 are from Richmond city schools, he said.

Trani said he was most proud that VCU became a true university during his tenure. Before he arrived, he said, VCU had been a university in name only with little collaboration among departments.

Trani's tenure brought praise yesterday from around the state.

"VCU has become a powerful engine to drive the quality of life in its home city," said John T. Casteen III, president of the University of Virginia.

"Gene has accomplished much during his tenure," said Virginia Tech's president, Charles W. Steger. "He has been a visionary leader working to improve Virginia higher education, Richmond, and most importantly, Virginia Commonwealth University."

Kaine issued a statement praising Trani as "the best thing to happen to Richmond in the last 20 years."

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or mmartz@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writer Olympia Meola contributed to this report.

Trani and VCU

March 15, 1990: Dr. Eugene P. Trani is unanimously elected president of Virginia Commonwealth University by the university's board of visitors. He begins his duties in July.
Sept. 13, 1990: The board of visitors approves six initiatives proposed by Trani that are aimed at making VCU a better neighbor as the university expands.
Nov. 15, 1990: Trani says he intends to ask the board of visitors to formally withdraw from state consideration its master site plan for the academic campus, which it had approved a year earlier..

April 6, 1991: Trani is inaugurated as VCU's fourth president.
1991: Under Trani's direction, VCU takes all expansion plans off the table and pledges to reconsider its development options.
May 1999: The $30.1 million, 190,000-square-foot Stuart C. Siegel Center opens its doors, becoming home to VCU athletics and becoming a keystone of the university's revival of a deteriorating stretch of West Broad Street.
May 19, 2007: Richmond Police Chief Rodney D. Monroe receives a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies, with a minor in criminal justice, from VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences.
April 10, 2008: Trani, along with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, participate in the dedication of the 240,000-square-foot, $84.3 million business and engineering complex that is Phase I of the largest construction project in VCU's history.
July 2008: Five high-ranking officials resign leadership positions at VCU amid complaints about an internal investigation of a degree awarded to Monroe.