ERIE — The chancellor of Penn State Behrend is retiring next year after 27 years at the Erie university.

Jack Burke, 60, said he will retire at the end of the 2008-09 academic year.

A college official said a national search for Burke's successor will begin soon.

Burke came to Behrend in 1981 as senior associate dean. He was named head of the college in 2001.

Under Burke's leadership, enrollment grew from 3,700 in 2001 to the nearly 4,700 students expected in 2008-09.

The number of academic programs also increased, and the college built a $30 million Research and Economic Development Center and a freshman residential facility.