University of Oklahoma president David Boren announced Wednesday that he will retire at the end of the 2017-18 school year.
Boren, 76, has served as Oklahoma's president for 23 years. Before that he was a U.S. Senator, and in the 1970s, became the youngest governor in Oklahoma history at age 33.
Boren will retire as the second-longest tenured president in university history, trailing only George Lynn Cross. As Oklahoma's president, Boren was at the heart of the Big 12's expansion push, which quickly fizzled after the league announced it would explore expansion last July.
After two rounds of conference realignment took Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M from the league, Boren famously called the Big 12 "psychologically disadvantaged," for being the smallest Power 5 league, and the only one without a conference network or championship game.