University President Frederick Lawrence announced Friday afternoon that he will be stepping down at the end of this academic year. He will take a full-time position at Yale Law School as a teacher and senior research scholar. 

Provost Lisa Lynch will serve as the interim president, effective July 1, according to a Jan. 30 University press release provided to the Justice.

Lynch wrote in an email to the Justice that she is "honored to serve as Interim President" and "[looking] forward to working with the entire Brandeis community during this transition period."

Lawrence made the announcement to the Brandeis community in a campus-wide email. “I am tremendously proud of the ways Brandeis has grown and thrived during my time as president,” he wrote. “Applications have surged to an all-time high, our endowment has grown to its highest point ever, and we have made significant progress in balancing the University’s budget.”

His decision to step down came after close consultation with the Board to Trustees, Lawrence wrote in the email. 

Chairman of the Board of Trustees Perry M. Traquina ’78 commented on Lawrence’s departure in the press release, which quotes him as saying that Lawrence “has worked tirelessly to move our university forward and has the results to show for it—including making significant progress in balancing the university’s budget, a record endowment, the fundraising of $225 million in gifts, and a 35 percent increase in applications under his stewardship.”

“This is a special place, and one that has left an indelible mark on Kathy and me,” Lawrence wrote in the email. “My door remains open to you, and always will be.”

In an online poll conducted by the Justice, 114 respondents (62 percent students, 32 percent alumni and the remaining a mix of faculty, staff and “other”) were evenly split in their reactions to the news of Lawrence’s resignation. 

A very slight majority of respondents, 34 percent, said they thought the resignation would have a negative impact on the University. 33 percent saw it in a positive light, and 32 percent were neutral. 

In June of last year, after the University rescinded an invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali to receive an honorary degree at the 2014 commencement ceremony, rumors that Lawrence would depart circulated—fueled by a post on online news outlet Truth Revolt in an article by Daniel Mael ’15. 

Specifically, Lawrence was said to be a candidate to take over for Abe Foxman, the outgoing national director of the Anti-Defamation League. However, then-University spokeswoman Ellen de Graffenreid denied the rumors, and presidential aide Jonathan Greenblatt was then announced as the ADL’s pick in November. 

Lawrence was named the eighth president of the University on Jan. 1, 2011, and will have served five years as president by the time he departs, the median for years as president of the University. The first, Abram Sachar, served for a high of 20 years while the second and third presidents each served for a low of two years. 

Before coming to Brandeis, Lawrence was the dean and a Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School from 2005 to 2010. He previously taught at the Boston University School of Law and was an assistant U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York among other positions and accomplishments. 

Lawrence received his bachelor’s degree from Williams College and his J.D. from Yale Law School.