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Pasadena City College President Casey to Retire

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Times Staff Writer

Pasadena City College President John W. Casey has announced that he will resign on Dec. 31.

Casey said Thursday that a back injury from an automobile accident that occurred the year after he took his post in 1983 has forced early retirement at age 59 from his $83,000-a-year post.

“While I had planned to be here for a much longer period of time, the persistent pain is more than I am willing to tolerate,” Casey said. He said his doctor recommended that he retire.

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Surprise Announcement

School officials said the news took them by surprise. College Vice President Henry P. Kirk and Faculty Senate President Harry Kawahara praised Casey’s leadership, which began at a time when the college was in the midst of a financial crisis and torn by faculty unrest.

Kirk said the school is now on a sound financial footing that that relations with teachers are much improved.

Kirk said Casey introduced and strengthened several programs during his three-year tenure, including one that this year sent 44 Pasadena City College students and three faculty members to Oxford for one semester. Casey introduced a program of discussions with state legislators, streamlined the administration and restored several faculty positions that had been cut, Kirk said.

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Joseph Sargis, president of the college’s Board of Trustees, praised Casey’s leadership. “His professionalism has enhanced the entire operation of the college,” he said.

A community college that awards associate of arts degrees in a wide variety of programs and prepares students for transfer to four-year colleges, Pasadena City College has maintained an enrollment of 18,500 for several years.

Casey said the Assn. of Community College Trustees will send a representative to the board meeting Thursday to offer help in the search for a new president.

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