Beheruz N. Sethna, University of West Georgia president will retire at the end of this school year, the university announced Wednesday.

Sethna is currently the longest-serving university president in the state of Georgia among both public and private institutions, according to the school's website. He is also the first person of Indian origin to head a US university and first person from ethnic minorities to do so in the state of Georgia.

He is been at the university for a period of 19 years and witnessed many milestones including the transformation of the school from a modest liberal arts college of 7,947 students in 1993-94 to an institution with full university status whose full-time equivalent enrollment has grown by 50 percent since his arrival.

The university has conferred more than 20 doctoral degrees in the past year, including its first Ph.D.

"When I arrived at West Georgia, the prevailing opinion was that I would be here for a couple of years and move to a bigger, better, more prestigious place," said Sethna. "They were correct; I did. Together with the faculty and staff, we created a bigger, better and more prestigious university.

Sethna's service to higher education in Georgia also includes teaching undergraduate courses as professor of business administration at Richards College of Business and holding the interim offices of Senior Vice Chancellor from 1999 to 2000 and Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer from 2006 to 2007 at the Board of Regents.

He has received Resolutions of Commendation from the Senate of the State of Georgia and the Board of Regents and has been named among the 100 Most Influential Georgians six times. He also received the prestigious Cornerstone Award from the Board of Regents.

Though Sethna has announced his retirement from the post of president, he will be continuing as a professor of business administration at UWG and will spend his summers teaching English and science at an orphanage school in his native India.

Sethna has been married for more than 37 years to Dr. Madhavi Sethna, UWG faculty member in media and instructional technology and they have two adult children.