Jim Petro, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, will retire Feb. 1.

“And at this point, having done the things I set out to do as chancellor, I want to get into doing some other things that require some more free time,” Petro said.

Petro addressed several aspects of education during his term as chancellor, such as commercializing university research in order to boost Ohio’s economy.

“One of the things I initiated […] was a commercialization task force that really took on leadership from all of our universities and developed a blueprint on how to commercialize and create jobs in Ohio through results in university level research,” he said.

Petro said he recently worked with several universities to create more internship opportunities.

“So internships with Ohio businesses — they are a terrific opportunity for students to get a glimpse of what it’s like to work at a big company and for the big company to get a glimpse of the quality of the student,” Petro said.

Petro said his most important contribution in education was working to “make it easier and smarter for more and more students to actually complete their degree.”

Kent State University President Lester Lefton said in an email that Petro put his focus on the right things.

“He has been an ally in difficult times, always worrying about graduation and student success —two of KSU’s highest priorities,” Lefton wrote.

After his retirement, Petro will travel and give lectures about failings in the justice system, which he discussed in his and his wife’s book “False Justice.”

“I have a passion towards change in criminal justice, to ensure more accurate results of our criminal trials,” Petro said.

Contact Alicia Balog at [email protected].