Bernadette Gray-Little has made history during her tenure as chancellor of the University of Kansas.

Gray-Little, 71, became KU’s first black chancellor and first female chancellor when she took the job in 2009. Her announcement this week that she will step down next summer affords the KU community the opportunity to salute her for a job well done during a tenuous time.

“During the past seven years, we have made tremendous strides as a university and positioned KU for even greater achievements in the future. We have completed many critical initiatives, and many more are nearing completion,” Gray-Little wrote in a message to campus shared Thursday.

“Now is an ideal time for the University of Kansas to identify a new leader to guide the next chapter in the university’s history.”

Kansas has made strides under Gray-Little’s leadership, most notably “Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas,” the enormously successful, five-year $1.66 billion fundraising campaign completed last summer. Far Above, the largest higher education fundraising effort in Kansas history, will have a profound and sustained impact on the university for generations to come.

Gray-Little, it should be noted, also has provided steady leadership during one of the most challenging eras of public funding for higher education in the state’s history. Gray-Little took the helm in the midst of the Great Recession. During her tenure, higher education cuts from the Legislature have been the norm. Some of the state’s legislative leaders have been vocal critics of the university and have even relished shifting dollars away from KU. The university has moved forward in spite of such challenges under Gray-Little’s leadership.

Gray-Little’s leadership also has been key in addressing diversity on the KU campus. Her leadership of a town hall forum on race last fall was noteworthy, and led to the creation of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisory group. Ongoing reforms include efforts to provide more support for minority and international students and to recruit more diverse staff to the university and to enhance education through discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Other accomplishments during Gray-Little’s tenure include creating new admission procedures, revamping financial aid by creating four-year renewable scholarships and expanding the Jayhawk Generations Scholarship, securing state funding for KU’s Foundation Distinguished Professor initiative, launching KU’s first universitywide curriculum, the KU Core, and overseeing the university’s expansion of its KU School of Medicine-Wichita program and the creation of the new School of Medicine at Salina.

By announcing her pending retirement so far in advance, Gray-Little has provided the Board of Regents with plenty of time to fill one of the most important leadership positions in the state, certainly the most important position in Kansas higher education. The board would do well to find someone who can lead KU as capably as Gray-Little has.