RUSTON, La. (AP) — Louisiana Tech University President Daniel Reneau says he will retire at the end of June 2013.

He’s been with the university 50 years as a student and educator, and served 26 years as president — the longest anyone has held the job.

Reneau announced his plans Tuesday during the university’s fall faculty and staff meeting.

He says he will continue to support Tech in a number of ways, including setting up an advisory and advocacy “think tank” within the Louisiana Tech University Foundation.

Reneau grew up in Woodville, Miss. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Tech in 1963 and his master’s in 1964.

In 1972, he established one of the nation’s first biomedical engineering departments at Tech.