Baker University's first female president, Pat Long, 61, will retire June 2014, after serving the university for eight years.

The board of trustees announced that they will soon start a national hunt for a new president.

"You need to start early with this process, to give the university the right time to hire the next person," Long, told Lawrence Journal World

Long succeeded Dan Lambert, who was the university's president for nearly two decades.

During Long's tenure as president, the university expanded its facilities, academic programs and athletic activities.

She is also credited with the expansion of the university's science and mathematics facilities, the construction of a $6.3 million residence hall on the Baldwin City campus and a new liberal arts curriculum and a doctoral program.

Long was also instrumental in raising $11.3 million for the Ivan L. Boyd Center for Collaborative Science Education. It is considered to be the largest capital project in the university's history, since its inception in 1858.

"Dr. Pat's genuine love of students has always been No. 1 in her heart," said Hoot Gibson, Baker's Chairman of the Board of Trustees. "The relationships she has developed are what have made her tenure so special.