Dr. Richard Florizone will be stepping down as Dalhousie University president in the new year to take a job leading a new research lab in Waterloo, Ont.
Dalhousie made the announcement Monday.
Florizone's five years at the helm of the university have been marked by record student enrolment and fundraising, Lawrence Stordy, the chair of the board of governors, said in a memo released by the university.
He also noted the university's achievements in a number of areas, including national prizes for science and the securing of millions of dollars of federal money for ocean research.
Florizone also worked to prepare the Dalhousie community in the celebration of their 200th anniversary this year.
His time at the top was not without controversy. It included the Dalhousie dentistry school scandal where a group of male students shared explicit posts on a Facebook group that included references to fellow students.
Florizone subsequently asked a task force to look into the problem. It later reported the faculty of dentistry permitted a culture of "sexism, misogyny, homophobia and racism."
The statement from Dalhousie Monday said Florizone will leave in early 2019 to lead the new Quantum Valley Ideas Lab, an opportunity Stordy called "once in a lifetime."