Tom Kinghorn, vice president of business affairs, will retire July 1 and assume a part-time, three-year role addressing Ball State University's commercialization and development, according to Monday's President's Perspective.
Kinghorn said he has been working at Ball State for 43 years and, at 67 years old, he's had a lot of time to consider what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He's had a lot of opportunities at Ball State and has "enjoyed every minute of it," he said, but his busy schedule hasn't given him much time to pursue other interests.
"It's a stage in life that everyone thinks about," Kinghorn said. "This has been coming for quite a while."
He will stay on as the executive assistant to the president for commercialization and community engagement, he said.
In President Jo Ann Gora's e-mail letter to the Ball State community, she said she appreciated his contribution to the school and planned on finding a replacement quickly so as to continue the university's momentum.
"In an era of constant change, it is rare to have such long and distinguished service as Tom Kinghorn has provided to Ball State," Gora said in the letter. "We are fortunate that he will continue to help us as we move forward."
According to an e-mail statement from Gora, Kinghorn will advance commercialization efforts, look to add funding for the upcoming geothermal energy project and strengthen relationships with the Muncie community.
She said these three focus areas would make Kinghorn's workload heavy for a part-time position. Gora and Kinghorn will solidify his initial priorities in the coming months before he begins his new role July 1, but giving details would be premature.
Kinghorn said he would be working with the Ball State Innovation Corporation, recently opened to focus on business development, to take advantage of the intellectual capacity of the faculty and students. The goal is to "turn intellectual capital into commercial enterprise."
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