LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Victoria “Tori” Murden McClure, the president of Spalding University, will retire at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. 

McClure has worked at Spalding University for 25 years. She started at the university in 1998 and was a trustee for five years. She then became a vice president for six years before being named president on June 1, 2010. She’s been in the role for 14 years and will officially retire on June 30, 2024.

“The university and I have had a great run, and serving Spalding has been the honor of a lifetime. I plan to work diligently in the coming months to create a smooth transition for whomever follows,” she said in a statement.

The board said an immediate nationwide search will begin for the university’s next president.

While serving as president, McClure increased Spalding University’s net assets by 355%, grew the campus endowment by 311% and the campus footprint by 40%, according to the board of trustees. This includes the addition of athletic fields, the Kosair Charities School of Physical Therapy and large green spaces.

She has not accepted a raise from the board of trustees for more than a decade.

McClure said even though being a university president is a “difficult job,” she has “loved nearly all of it.” She said some of her most cherished memories from her time at Spalding University center around students.

“As a woman, I am grateful for the doors that have been opened for me. I am thankful for Dr. Bernice Sandler the ‘godmother’ of Title IX. Few people understand that the impetus behind Title IX had nothing to do with the participation of women in intercollegiate athletics. The goal was to compel colleges and universities to admit women into their graduate schools. It is difficult to become a university president if one is not permitted to obtain advanced academic degrees. I am a president because women like Dr. Sandler opened the road for me,” she said in a statement.

McClure holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Smith College, a master’s of divinity from Harvard, a master’s in writing from Spalding University and a J.D. from the University of Louisville.

McClure was the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean and the first woman to ski to the South Pole. She wrote a book, “A Pearl in the Storm,” which was turned into a musical, “Row,” in 2021.

She said she will take several months off from work before deciding what job to take next.

“Whatever is next, I want to get a life, learn to weld, learn to sail, build more boats, read more books, spend more time with friends and to enjoy more of everything,” she said.

Read McClure’s full statement below: