Cheryl Green, the president of Governors State University, has announced her retirement, effective March 1, 2025. Green’s retirement marks the conclusion of her 37-year career in higher education.

In an email dated Aug. 12 and addressed to the Jaguar community, President Green revealed that her health influenced her decision to retire and that her brief leave of absence last year was to receive treatment for cancer.

“After much prayer, reflection, and consultation with my family and doctors, I have determined that the time has come for me to put my health above my professional aspirations by retiring,” Green said in the email.

Appointed GSU’s sixth president in July of 2020, Green’s tenure saw the university navigate significant challenges and achieve notable milestones. Her leadership coincided with global and national difficulties, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and significant social changes.

Green noted in her email that GSU implemented various changes during her time as president, including creating new administrative roles and initiatives, establishing the Social Justice Center, opening the College of Graduate Studies and the Honors College, and accrediting several academic programs.

In her retirement announcement, Green thanked the GSU Board of Trustees, her leadership team, and the broader university community for their support. She also highlighted GSU’s achievements during her presidency, such as graduating the first cohort of Ph.D. candidates and securing record-breaking financial contributions to the university’s foundation.

In her email, President Green assured the university community that she would work to ensure a smooth transition for her successor. “The Board of Trustees will follow a similar process as they did when they recruited me by engaging a search firm to conduct a national search,” Green wrote. “More information will be forthcoming soon about how the entire campus community will be engaged to find the university’s seventh president, including ensuring representation from across the campus on the presidential search committee.”

At the Aug. 19 Board of Trustees Committee of the Whole meeting, outgoing chairperson Angela Sebastien commended Green for her time at Gov State. “On behalf of the full board of trustees, we received your retirement notice, and we respect and appreciate the way in which you are transitioning,” Sebastien said. “We all care about what’s best for the university. We appreciate and respect your leadership, and it’s been a true honor to serve with you.”

Michael Hart, President of GSU-UPI, the union for faculty at Gov State, also expressed his gratitude to President Green at the board meeting. “We’ve had our moments since we kind of played for separate teams here,” Hart said. “Many times, we’ve come to terms without having to file suit or other grievances, where [with prior administrations] that wouldn’t have been the case, and I’m really happy about that.”

Hart went on to say that he and President Green have a similar history of health problems. “We came to them at the same time, and we’re still dealing with them together,” he said. “I really have appreciated her time here despite some things in the past that happened, and I want to wish her well.”

Green thanked Hart as he told her that she would be in his prayers.

Green gave the board a long list of positive news as she updated them on the state of the university at the board meeting. She expressed her confidence that the Gov State would continue an upward trajectory in helping students achieve their educational goals in the next year and after her retirement.