We will be sad to see the departure of UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder, who will leave large shoes to fill.

Ponder announced to faculty and staff in mid-January her intention to step down as leader of UNCA, effective July 31, after nine years as chancellor — the longest tenure of any leader in the institution’s history since its first,William Highsmith. She is UNCA’s sixth chancellor.

The Asheville native, the daughter of the late Eleanor and Herschel Ponder, has local roots traced to the 1780s. She is married to writer and publisher Christopher Brookhouse.

Ponder managed dramatic improvements to the school that bills itself as “the state’s liberal arts university.”

Among her most notable accomplishments are the following:

• Guided UNCA successfully through financially turbulent times.

• Played a pivotal role in not only maintaining but improving the quality of academics, as evidenced by continued recognition by ratings agencies.

• Strengthened community relations with new partnerships with Mission Health System, among others.

• Oversaw the largest construction boom in UNCA history, most notably the Sherrill Center.... and added vital strategic acreage for future expansion.

We wish Ponder the best in her future endeavors and feel that UNCA and the surrounding community are better places as a result of her admirable ability to turn her forward-thinking ideas into reality.