KEARNEY, Neb. — After 22 years, the longest-serving chancellor in University of Nebraska system history is set to retire.

Former university president Dennis Smith selected Doug Kristensen as University of Nebraska at Kearney chancellor in 2002. He had no background in academic administration. The Minden native was a lawyer and former speaker of the legislature. More than two decades later, Kristensen leaves having made an extraordinary impact on the university that represents his home area.

“Now is the right time for me and it’s the right time for Terri and that’s more important than anything else,” Kristensen said. "I just wanted to say thank you for the honor of a lifetime. It’s been a privilege to serve as your chancellor for 22 years.”

Kristensen’s announcement was a full-circle moment. He made his first address to the UNK campus at the recital hall of the fine arts building. This one ended with a standing ovation.

“At this point, I’m really not up for a whole lot of questions," Kristensen said. "But I am up for a very sincere thank you. I’m glad you came today and go Lopers.”

Kristensen will serve through the spring and retire at the end of the academic year. By then, he plans to have finished a round of budget reductions and found a permanent vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“There’s never an end of projects or ideas — we’ve got lots of things on the drawing board, we’ve got lots of ideas," Kristensen said. "But this is a pretty logical place for me to say thank you and I appreciate the honor of being chancellor.”

His exit comes after seeing one of his biggest projects become reality. Construction is underway on a $95 million facility meant to train the next generation of rural Nebraska’s healthcare workers. At the request of donors Bill and Ruth Scott, it will be named after Kristensen.

“It’s probably the largest, most meaningful thing anyone’s ever done for me,” Kristensen said.

Under Kristensen’s watch, UNK went from barely noticed by US News and World Report, to consistently being top 10 in its category.  He guided more than $360 million in campus construction and renovation and created new programs in partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Similar to national trends, UNK’s enrollment has dropped by 16 percent since peaking in 2012. The school is also in the midst of making $4.3 million in budget cuts.

Despite challenges, Kristensen is optimistic about the future.

“We can become very good and prioritize our offerings," Kristensen said. "I think that will increase our tuitions, it will increase the number of students we bring and I think it will help us attract good faculty.”

As his era closes, Kristensen believes the next chapter at UNK is poised to be even better.

“The chancellor is not the university," Kristensen said. "It’s the collection of faculty, staff, students and the community members, donors and alumni who all are very supportive of the institution. They’ve never, I think, been in better shape than now.”

Kristensen says he doesn’t plan to be involved with selecting the next chancellor. He expects that responsibility to fall on interim system president Chris Kabourek. 

Kristensen says UNK will always be a part of him. He plans to continue to be associated with the university and help in whatever ways he can.