Virginia Commonwealth University President Eugene P. Trani announced today that  he is stepping down July 1, a year earlier than planned.

Trani, who will turn 69 in the fall, said he will retire as president next summer  and serve only as professor of history. He had planned to stay until 2010.

In a press conference this morning at VCU, Trani said his decision is based entirely on his health and the quintuple coronary artery bypass surgery he underwent a month ago.

"The surgery just changed everything, no question," he said.

Trani acknowledged but declined to address the controversies that have roiled VCU this summer over the improper awarding of a degree to former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe and questions about the university's research relationship with tobacco giant Philip Morris USA.

"This has been a summer of challenge, but this is not the time for me to comment on the issues that have arisen since commencement," he said.

However, Trani added, "If I have one regret about what's gone on this summer it is there is an air of fear and intimidation at VCU. That's not the VCU I know."

VCU Rector Thomas G. Rosenthal said today that Trani had made the decision to retire early over the weekend. He said the announcement has nothing to do with recent controversies at VCU -- "Zip, zero, zilch."

"This was his decision," Rosenthal said. "It is 100 percent health related."

Rosenthal said he admired Trani's energy and stamina in an intensely demanding position.
 
"He has the energy of a thousand people - it's unbelievable," the rector said. "It's a stressful job."
 
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. He said the board would conduct a national search, but also acknowledged speculation that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine might be interested in the job after completing his term in office.

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

Kaine issued the following statement today: "Gene Trani has been the best thing to happen to Richmond in the last 20 years. His stewardship over the growth of VCU has been magnificent and I am so glad he is staying at VCU as a full professor so that he can continue to enrich the life of our community and the lives of VCU students."

Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder said in a statement to Trani, "You have given tirelessly and selflessly of your energies and vision for the university and the metropolitan area, especially the City of Richmond. I have enjoyed working with you as governor, professor, mayor and friend. It has been the latter, friend, that has always been the most important and lasting relationship to endure."

Trani became VCU's fourth president in 1990. The son of Sicilian immigrants, he came to VCU in 1990 after three stops as a college administrator, the last as vice president for academic affairs for the University of Wisconsin System.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he received his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Notre Dame; earned master's and doctoral degrees, both in history, from Indiana University.

Trani's presidency has been marked by a significant state and private investment in VCU's infrastructure currently worth more than $2.2 billion, creating a pair of large campuses that have helped reshape downtown Richmond.

More construction is on the way, including large projects at both the Monroe Park and VCU Medical Center campuses.

VCU, the largest university in the state, enrolls more than 32,000 students and employs more than 17,000 faculty and staff at VCU and the VCU Health System.

Sixty-five of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 15 schools and one college.
 
For continuing coverage, check back at inRich.com and see tomorrow's Richmond

Times-Dispatch.