BSU President Bob Kustra announced today that he’ll retire on June 30, after leading the state’s largest public university for 15 years. “Serving as president of Boise State University has been the privilege of a lifetime,” Kustra, 74, wrote in an announcement letter. “I will be forever grateful for being able to serve during this period of incredible growth and accomplishment for the university.”

Prior to joining Boise State, Kustra served two terms as the Republican lieutenant governor of Illinois and 10 years in the Illinois Legislature, and chaired the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He also has served as president of the Midwestern Higher Education Commission and president of Eastern Kentucky University, and held faculty positions at Northwestern University, the University of Illinois-Chicago, Loyola University of Chicago and the University of Illinois-Springfield.

Boise State has expanded dramatically under Kustra’s leadership, expanding doctoral research programs, establishing new STEM and high-tech degree programs, awarding significantly more degrees and building a nationally recognized athletic program. It’s also set records for research grants and university fundraising, and constructed numerous major new facilities.

Kustra also hosts a public radio show, “Reader’s Corner,” in which he interviews leading authors; he recently interviewed his 500^th guest on the program.

BSU, in a news release, credited Kustra with spurring a “brain gain” in Idaho, as more than 80 percent of the university’s graduates stay and work in Idaho after they graduate, including 45 percent of students who arrive at BSU from out of state.

Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador criticized Kustra in August and called for him to resign, after Kustra, during his annual State of the University address, spoke about the deadly Charlottesville white nationalist rally while announcing a new human rights initiative on campus, and was critical of Labrador’s statement responding to the rally. Labrador told a Boise radio show, “It’s interesting when you have a 60-something white male from a liberal state trying to tell me, a young Hispanic male, how I should react to racism. I thought it was very inappropriate what he did. Maybe it’s time for him to go, it’s time for him to decide that it should be somebody else’s turn to lead BSU."

Labrador reiterated his criticism on another radio show a day later; Kustra declined to respond to Labrador.   

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter issued this statement: “Every great city needs a great university and in the 15 years since Dr. Kustra has led Boise State, he has indeed put Boise State on the path to greatness. When I met Bob in the first few months of his tenure, I knew he was the right person for the job. But since then, Boise State’s trajectory has been astounding – he’s accomplished much more than I could have ever anticipated in 2003. Bob has been president of Boise State since I was first elected, and it is difficult imagining someone else in that role. But, his hard work leaves Boise State’s next president in a great position to take the university even higher.”