Today, the time is right for me to retire. With the firm belief that the future is bright for UCF, I will step down as president effective June 30, 2018.

I make this decision in good health and of my choosing. The time is right for this decision because I’ve never felt better about UCF.

This is a special moment in time for the university: we are hiring hundreds of talented new faculty; attracting the highest-achieving students in our history; and making impacts in Orlando, the state, and nation.

I am proud of our reputation as one of the biggest and best universities in the country. Through our size and constant pursuit of excellence, UCF changes the lives of our students … and our students change the world.

Making this decision now provides the best opportunity for our momentum to continue. I know that our leadership team, including our trustees, vice presidents, and deans, will continue turning big dreams into reality.

UCF Board of Trustees Chairman Marcos Marchena will convene a search committee that will include trustees and representatives from the faculty, staff, student body, alumni, the Florida Board of Governors, and the Central Florida community.

We will soon share additional information about the presidential search process.

Since 1992, Martha and I have been honored to work alongside many exceptional people. Being at UCF has been one of the greatest joys of our lives.

When we first visited campus, we had a powerful feeling that UCF was a special place. We could never have imagined then how special it would become.

Thank you to everyone who has made our remarkable university what it is today. Martha and I are forever grateful for your support.

Cordially yours,

John C. Hitt

President

President Hitt and first lady Martha Hitt contributed $100,000, as did trustee Alex Martins, a UCF alumnus and CEO of the Orlando Magic, and UCF Foundation Board of Directors member Dick Nunis. Other leading personal contributors include trustee Robert Garvy and Phyllis Klock, chairwoman of the Foundation Board of Directors.

The commitments from UCF’s leadership include gifts from trustees, deans, vice presidents, and members of the UCF Foundation and Alumni Association boards of directors.

“Our university’s leaders are making generous personal investments in UCF Downtown because they know the campus will greatly expand educational opportunities for students,” said Mike Morsberger, vice president for alumni relations and development. “Their support, along with the commitments from our community partners, is vital to make this innovative campus a reality.”

Earlier in January, the Orlando Magic and CFE Federal Credit Union each pledged $1.5 million toward the construction of the new academic building that UCF would share with Valencia College.

Orange County commissioners voted unanimously to contribute $3 million, and Valencia College will contribute $2 million.

Additionally, the value of in-kind contributions of land and infrastructure by the City of Orlando and the developers of Creative Village is approximately $75 million.

Pending approvals, the campus will open in fall 2018. UCF Downtown will offer students an innovative learning environment within walking distance of a wide array of internship and job opportunities in fields such as digital media, communication, public service and health-related programs. UCF will share the campus with Valencia College, which will offer programs in digital media, health information technology and culinary and hospitality, including workforce training and other certificates to increase access to education in the immediate downtown area.

The new academic building at UCF Downtown will complement a renovated Center for Emerging Media building where UCF’s nationally ranked graduate video gaming school, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, is located. One-third of the new building will be funded by private donations. The university also is contributing $20 million from its resources and asking the state for an additional $20 million.

The annual UCF Faculty & Staff giving campaign, believe, kicked off on Friday at a celebration held at the Morgridge International Reading Center. Attendees were given the red carpet treatment as they posed with UCF’s celebrity mascot, Knightro, and munched on movie-themed refreshments.

Dr. Hitt welcomed faculty and staff and thanked everyone for their continued dedication and support. “Whether this is your first campaign or your seventh, I hope you will join Martha and me to advance the strong tradition of giving at UCF,” he said.

Last year’s campaign reach an all-time high level of participation and support and Dr. Hitt noted that “breaking records is nothing new for us at UCF.” He expressed confidence that new records would be broken this year as he announced a 2013 campaign goal of $1 million.

The Faculty and Staff Campaign runs through the month of February. For more information, or to give a gift online, please visit:

Family, friends, faculty and others – both in person and in video messages – praised the service and dedication of the president, who led the university to national prominence as enrollment has jumped from 22,000 to more than 58,500 during the past two decades.

Rick Schell, vice president and chief of staff, told the audience that Hitt, the longest-serving president of the 11 state universities, has “the courage of an offensive lineman,” and Matt McCann, Student Government Association president, said Hitt is a “servant leader” who values the input of people around him.

“You were not only tall in stature, but also in vision,” said Roger Pynn, a Distinguished Alumnus Award winner and president of the Curley & Pynn public relations firm. “The community – all of  us – owe you an incredible ‘thank you.’”

Hitt returned the compliments to those in attendance at the packed Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union.

“If you are fortunate enough to head a large and dynamic organization, people tend to credit you for much of the good that happens,” he said. “And, while such praise can be flattering, allow me to set the record straight. The achievements at UCF that coincide with my tenure have far more to do with you than with anything I could ever do.”

The president added that the steady pursuit of the university’s goals has defined the UCF of today. The greatest catalyst for the school’s success, he said, is the goal “to be America’s leading partnership university.”

Hitt also thanked his wife of 50 years, Martha, for her many contributions to the university and for being his “best adviser and the greatest joy of my life.”

The president left the audience with a key lesson he has come to understand in the years since arriving at UCF on March 1, 1992:

“If there is anything I have learned in 20 years, it is that our greatest danger is not to dream too large, but to dream too small. At UCF, we dream big. Our greatest limitations are those we place on ourselves.”

After the president’s comments, Olga Calvet, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, presented the Hitts with a bouquet of yellow Pegasus roses and framed side-by-side aerial maps of the campus taken in 1992 and 2012.

“You can see the amazing physical growth,” Calvet told them, “and most of all it symbolizes our progress in those 20 years.”

 To leave a congratulatory message to the president, go to  www.ucf.edu/hitt20.

The ����ֱ�� will hold a special on-campus celebration Thursday, March 1, to honor President John C. Hitt’s 20th anniversary in office. The event will begin at 2 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union.

Students, faculty and staff members, and campus friends will have the opportunity to create handwritten notes for the president and record short congratulatory videos. Doors open at 1:30 p.m., and refreshments will be served during the reception that follows the program.

John and Martha Hitt joined the UCF family March 1, 1992.

“It is a special privilege to serve as president of a university. Society invests in universities not just its money, but something far more precious, the potential of enterprising men and women who seek to enrich their lives through higher education,” Hitt said during his inaugural address.

Since then, UCF has become one of America’s great success stories in higher education.

Typically, UCF sets new school records each year for the quality of its students and the number of degrees awarded. Enrollment has nearly tripled–making UCF the second-largest university in the nation. UCF has emerged as a major metropolitan research university with a global reach.

The on-campus celebration is one of several commemorations of  President Hitt’s achievements.

On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Hitt appeared on WUCF TV’s Metro Center Outlook, hosted by Diane Trees, director of the Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies at UCF.

In the episode, which can be viewed , Hitt reflects on his accomplishments during the past 20 years, as well as his goals and influences.

The second part of the interview with President Hitt will be broadcast at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29. That episode will focus on regional partnerships and the changes and challenges that UCF and other public universities have faced the past two decades.

Information about where to watch WUCF TV can be found at .

Highlights of Hitt’s two-decade tenure also can be viewed at the UCF Library, which is running an exhibit dedicated to Hitt and his wife, Martha, through March 31.

“John C. Hitt: Twenty Years of Leadership” offers pictures, awards and other memorabilia that chronicle Hitt’s milestones at UCF. The display is on the main floor of the Library near the information desk.

Visit the UCF President’s website to read more about two decades of remarkable results.