Lester Lefton walked onto the field at Wednesday’s baseball game, after his plan to retire next July was announced earlier that day.

Standing on the sideline with the team, Lefton was there to help dedicate new lights for Schoonover Stadium, one of the many changes he’s made as the president of Kent State University for nearly seven years.

“Everything has a season and unlike lots of sports and athletes, we [university presidents] sort of stay a little bit too long,” Lefton said. “I’d like to go out at the top of my game, and I think right now things are going pretty darn well at Kent State.”

And on Wednesday, he announced plans to retire on July 1, 2014 at the end of his 2013-14 contract year.

“You don’t just decide one day, ‘Gee, I think I’m going to go to college.’ You don’t decide one day, ‘Gee, I think I’m going to retire,’” he said. “You think about it when you get to be 60 or 63, 64, and then as time passes, you become more serious about the decision.”

Lefton became president of Kent State on July 1, 2006. His original contract was effective through June 30, 2011 and was extended to June 30, 2014. Beginning on July 1, 2013, this agreement would automatically renew on July 1 of each succeeding year unless either the president or the university provided a one-year written notice of the desire not to renew.

Eric Mansfield, executive director of university media relations, said Lefton’s retirement comes at a time when the university is in a good position to move forward.

“I think he feels very confident that he’s made a bold impression here on the campus — enrollment is up, graduation rates are up, donations are up,” Mansfield said. “The campus is headed in the right direction financially; it’s headed in the right direction educationally; it’s headed in the direction as far as the physical structures. He’s accomplished an awful lot in nearly seven years here.”

During his time as president, Lefton has been praised for many developments with the university, especially his fundraising efforts.

As part of the Centennial Campaign, Lefton helped raise $265 million. Gene Finn, vice president for institutional advancement, said there was a record high of $40 million raised two years ago with Lefton’s help.

Finn, who has known Lefton since they worked together at George Washington University in the late 1990s, said he thinks Lefton wants to focus on the next stage of his life.

“I do know that he’s got grandchildren and his daughters are in California, and he’s got a lot of outside interests,” Finn said. “So did it come as a surprise to me? No, not at all. I think naturally after you have such a successful run, and he said many times he wants to leave on top and on a high.”

Paul Farrell, Faculty Senate chair, said in an email he did not always agree with Lefton or his policies but found him willing to listen, adapt his plans or agree to disagree, and that his time as president will be remembered as a time of rapid change.

“As in any period of rapid change, there will always be a mix of outcomes ranging from resounding successes to inevitable failures,” Farrell said in an email. He said people will remember the successes with improving retention, graduation and enrollment rates, managing finances during state and national crises and working on the collaboration between the city and university.

Lefton had a tremendous vision for Kent State and an amazing run as president, said Greg Jarvie, vice president for enrollment management and student affairs.

“When he first got here, he talked about putting Kent on the map and making it a place of destination. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s done that. People see Kent and Kent State hand-in-hand now. He’s done a wonderful job with the collaboration he’s done with the city. He’s really done what he said he was going to do.”

Several university and city officials also praised Lefton’s impact with both the university and downtown, especially with the Esplanade expansion to connect both.

“There’s been a significant improvement in communication and cooperation between the university and town,” said Ron Burbick, the developer of Acorn Corner and Acorn Alley 1 and 2. “He is a valuable member in what’s going on downtown. He had more of a vision of downtown and the university becoming one.”

Provost Todd Diacon said he actually came to Kent State because of Lefton and the changes he has been a part of with the downtown expansion.

“Those struck me as the kinds of dynamic changes that transform a university,” he said. “And when you combine that with I read his speeches, I watched some of his video clips, I was just very impressed by President Lefton.”

Diacon, who had no hints to Lefton’s retirement, found out about it five minutes before the announcement was made.

“I told him that I had had the pleasure of working with great presidents, and he was at the top of the list of presidents,” Diacon said.

Yet not all memories of Lefton will be of the work he’s done.

“I guess an image that I always have in my mind is when Lester puts on that blue cowboy hat at homecoming,” Diacon said. “It just always makes me chuckle the way he interacts with students [there].”

Students took to social media sites, such as Twitter, to say how they feel about Lefton and his retirement.

@JamesJacksonKSU tweeted, “So you take a pay raise and then retire a few months later… ?#Scumbag. At least you’re leaving.. ?#LesterLefton???”???

@Lord_Joseph tweeted, “Lester Lefton’s retiring on July 1st, 2014; Kent’s going to throw one Hell of a party for this one, I can feel it”

@OCDmike527 tweeted, “Lester lefton did a good job! Look at all the sidewalks! And he removed parking spots for some nice grass! GOOD WORK! ?@KSUprobs”???

@mjbanks93 tweeted, “Why is everyone excited Lefton is retiring as if he was solely responsible for everything regarding KSU? Lose the high school mentality.”

As for finding a successor, Diacon said he wants someone with the experience and the ideas to move the university on from here.

“You have these incredibly successful leaders who have sort of oversized personalities,” Diacon said. “That’s not an easy thing to find.”

Mansfield said Jane Murphy Timken, chair of the Board of Trustees, will appoint a member of the Board to head the search committee for Lefton’s successor. It is not known whether this will be a public or private search.

Still, Lefton has one year left to follow through on his goals. But after he retires, Lefton expects to spend more time with his wife, children and grandchildren and pursue his interests, such as his photography.

“The truth is, this job is all consuming.” Lefton said. “It’s seven days a week. This week, during the week, I’ll be working three nights. And then I work all day long. It is really a 24/7 kind of job, and going into retirement maybe doing some other kinds of things will allow me more time to pursue other passions, as well as do some writing, and maybe do some teaching as well.”

However, he’ll come back to visit downtown after all the construction is finished.

“You couldn’t keep me away,” he said.