photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, and Blake Benson, chair of the Regents, are pictured at the organization's annual retreat on July 30, 2025 at Kansas State University.

The leader who oversees the University of Kansas chancellor and the presidents of the other state universities is retiring later this year.

Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, announced Thursday afternoon that he will retire from the position on June 30. Flanders, who has served in the role since 2015, is responsible for overseeing the activities of the state’s public universities, and also is tasked with implementing the policies and programs created by the Kansas Board of Regents, which is the state-appointed board in charge of public, higher education in Kansas.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to have served Kansas and proud of all that our public higher education system has accomplished during the last decade,” Flanders said in a press release. “Kansas colleges and universities create life-changing opportunities for families and are engines of economic growth in our state. I know that our system is well-positioned to help Kansas build a bright and prosperous future.”

The Regents did not immediately announce plans for the search process that will be used to replace Flanders, but the board is expected to formulate those details in the near future.

“The Regents are incredibly thankful to President Flanders for his service,” said KBOR Chair Blake Benson. “Throughout his tenure, Dr. Flanders has addressed our most pressing challenges with bold, data-driven solutions that are grounded in outcomes and accountability. Our higher education system and our entire state have benefitted from his innovative leadership and commitment to serving Kansas. The Board wishes President Flanders all the best in the next phase of his career.”

During his tenure, Flanders led the development and implementation of the Regents’ current strategic plan, Building a Future. The plan has created initiatives designed to improve affordability of higher education, expand research activities at universities, and make the university system more active in driving economic growth in the state.

During the last five years, programs created by the board have led to: an increase of 10 percentage points in on-time graduation rates at the state’s universities; a quadrupling of state-funded student financial aid; a 16% increase in the number of high school students who also are taking colleges courses; and a 29% increase in the starting wages for graduates of Kansas universities, according to figures provided by the Regents.

A big emphasis under Flanders has also been on reshaping the actual campuses of the state’s universities. A major finding during Flanders’ tenure was that many of the state’s universities were falling far behind on maintenance of campus buildings, while also needing less building space for many campus functions.

The result has been a new program that has garnered state funding and required universities to come up with matching dollars to improve maintenance on existing buildings and to demolish buildings that have badly deteriorated and are no longer needed.

That program has resulted in $123 million of deferred maintenance projects being addressed, while also reducing the net amount of building space on university campuses by 750,000 square feet.

Flanders’ pending retirement comes at a time of turnover for the Regents universities, as two presidents — those at Emporia State and Pittsburg State — are still in their first year, and as the Regents’ vice president of academic affairs, which oversees curriculum across the state, is retiring this month.

The retirement also comes at a time when the Regents board also is incomplete. Eight of the nine positions are filled on the board, but one seat awaits an appointment by the governor, and has been empty since June.

In addition to his decade as the leader of Kansas Board of Regents, Flanders has been a longtime employee of the Regents system. Prior to moving into the CEO role, he was the Regents’ vice president for workforce development, where implemented programs to expand engineering and nursing programs. Flanders, who received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Kansas State, also served as the liaison between the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Department of College, and also was an administrator at the Manhattan Area Technical College.

“I would like to thank the Regents, elected officials, business and community partners, college and university leaders, and Board office staff with whom I have had the opportunity to work,” said President Flanders. “I look forward to helping the Board with a smooth and successful transition in the coming months.”