The man who has led the University of York for more than seven years said today he would retire after a period of great change and development for the university.

Vice-chancellor Prof Ron Cooke has announced he is to retire in September 2002, when he will be 61 and will have served nine years at the helm.

He said he and his wife, Barbara, planned to stay in York, a city that he had not known at all when he first arrived in 1993.

"I think it's the greatest place to live that I've discovered and we hope to continue to serve the community.

"The city is wonderful and North Yorkshire is brilliant."

Prof Cooke said he felt the way the university had worked with other organisations in the city was one of its greatest achievements over the last decade.

"The thing that I've been really excited about is the way in which the university has successfully collaborated with the community, through music, through planning, through libraries, and so on."

Prof Cooke's time at the university has seen the expansion of York Science Park, which has created more than 1,000 jobs, and a big growth in the university's role as a "wealth creator" its turnover has doubled since he arrived.

It has also seen good news for its two core functions, teaching and research, which have gained a reputation for excellence, with the university now regarded as one of the top institutions in the country.

"I haven't done this it's only been possible because I have got good colleagues," he said.

Big developments which are under way now include two major capital projects which the university has won millions of pounds for the new biology facilities, which won £20 million funding, and the Alcuin project, which won another £20 million to fund health care, social care and social sciences research and teaching.

And on top of these two will come the new Hull-York medical school.

"I believe the medical school will be of enormous potential value to the whole community," he said.

A joint committee is to be set up to choose Prof Cooke's successor who will take over in 2002.

Updated: 08:30 Thursday, May 03, 2001