John Lordan, the university's vice president for business affairs, will step down from that post in September, university president William R. Brody announced.

Lordan has served as vice president for business affairs since 1986, when the position was established by the board of trustees. Lordan has recommended that the duties of his post be merged with those of the university's senior vice president for administration. Board action on the recommendation is expected at the October meeting of the trustees. President Brody said that, at that meeting, he will recommend that Lordan be named vice president emeritus, in recognition of his dedicated and productive service to the university.

John Lordan

"John Lordan has served Hopkins loyally and well," Brody said. "He is a consummate professional. The university is better for his having been here."

During his years at Hopkins, Lordan was responsible for its financial operations, fiscal planning, budgeting, purchasing and administrative computing. Before coming to Hopkins, he served in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget as associate director for financial management, the top career financial management position in the federal government.

"John's integrity and commitment to Hopkins have been exemplary," said Michael R. Bloomberg, chair of the board of trustees. "He leaves with the appreciation and gratitude of the whole board of trustees."

Lordan was one of the major architects of Hopkins' five-year planning process, a financial innovation introduced when several university divisions found themselves facing financial crises in the 1980s. "This planning and budgeting process," said Andrew Bozzelli, chairman of the trustee finance committee, "is serving now as a model for other universities. We believe Hopkins was first with this kind of disciplined analysis of the long-term consequences of each element of its revenue and expenditure plans. The process has served us well, and John Lordan was the key player, from the very first five-year plan back in 1989 through Plan-2000, approved by the trustees earlier this year."

Lordan said he was "extremely proud to have served Johns Hopkins from the dark days of the late '80s to its current position of financial stability and programmatic growth."

"Each year at Hopkins has brought its own challenges and satisfactions," he said. "I've served four presidents, been a part of the extraordinary contributions that the Applied Physics Laboratory makes to national security, helped Medicine and Public Health carry out their life-saving research and service programs, supported Peabody's return to the first rank of music conservatories and seen a whole generation of students move into leadership positions in law, medicine and high-tech industries that didn't even exist when they studied here.

"Hopkins," he added, "is a priceless asset to Baltimore, to Maryland and to the nation and the world. Once again, I am proud to be a part of it."

Lordan will continue his association with Johns Hopkins as an adviser to President Brody on financial planning, accounting and auditing issues, and federal compliance matters.