Southern Utah University President Steven Bennion will leave the Cedar City school this summer — after nearly nine years at the helm — to lead the New York City South Mission for the LDS Church.

Bennion announced his retirement to 500 employees of the university Monday, marking the end of a 24-year career as a college president at Snow, Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) and SUU.

"My emotion is one of gratitude for the privilege of serving and working with terrific people who are committed to a cause, who dedicate their lives and their careers to making a difference in the lives of young people," said the 64-year-old Bennion.

The call to the New York mission came as a surprise to Bennion, who had planned to stay at SUU for at least another year with his wife Marjorie. The three-year stint as mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will take him from Cedar City, but Bennion said he hopes to return to the area to teach political science at SUU.

"We've always wanted to serve a mission; I just didn't know it would be as a mission president," he said. "We might have thought about staying another year because we love this place. It's going to be hard to leave."

Dixie State College President Lee Caldwell said Monday he was "a little surprised" after learning of Bennion's plans.

"I am certainly going to miss the close, personal relationship I've had with Steve and his wife," said Caldwell, who was named president of Dixie State College in July 2005.

One of the first things New Yorkers will notice about Bennion when he arrives is his "pure intelligence," Caldwell said.

"He is a very intelligent man and respected leader," he added. "Steve has a polish that will really resonate with New Yorkers. They will really take to each other. Those are some large shoes to fill."

For SUU Student Association President Micah Keith, Bennion's legacy at the university will include a reputation as a student advocate, as well as the guy who always gave high fives in the hallway.

"That's his trademark. He's one of the most personable people I've ever met," Keith said.

During his stint as president, Bennion focused on the school's founding mission as a teacher university, securing $1 million in state funds for a new College of Education building. Construction on the new building will begin in May, just one month before Bennion leaves the school.

That legacy is one Bennion hopes to leave behind at SUU, a school that was first presided over by Bennion's grandfather, Milton Bennion. Nearly 100 years later in 1997, Bennion assumed the presidency in his grandfather's footsteps.

"Our over-arching goal at SUU has been to continue to build and strengthen the quality of this remarkable institution and to serve our students well," Bennion said. "It's important the students obtain something worthwhile when they leave."