Edward Stricker will step down as dean of Pitt’s University Honors College before the fall of 2017 semester, but he’s not going far.

Stricker, who has served as the dean since July 2011, announced Thursday that he will resign as dean and rejoin Pitt’s Department of Neuroscience faculty. A search committee will form to select a new dean this fall. Stricker said he is stepping down to focus “on other things, both at home and at the University.”

“The University Honors College embodies the ideals of research and scholarship as well as that of excellence inside and outside the classroom, library and laboratory. It has been a great privilege for me to be a part of this remarkable organization,” Stricker said in a release. “I look forward to returning to the Department of Neuroscience, where I will continue to teach and generally help students reach their fullest potential and thereby advance the mission of the University of Pittsburgh.”

During his time as dean of the Honors College, Stricker established Health Professions Advising, which assists students in applying to the health professions committee and medical, dental, optometry, podiatry and veterinary schools. He also formed the Academic Community Engagement Advising to help students connect academic interests with opportunities in local communities and expanded the Honors Housing Program to accommodate more than 700 undergraduates.

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia Beeson said it was a “pleasure” to work with Stricker as dean.

“His impact on the growth of the Honors College and the entire University through his role on the Council of Deans cannot be overstated,” Beeson said in a release. “I am pleased that he will continue his academic career here at Pitt for the foreseeable future.”

Stricker has been at Pitt for 45 years, beginning as an an associate professor of psychology and biological sciences in 1971. He served as the founding chair of the Department of Neuroscience from 1986 to 2002 and as the founding director of Pitt’s Conte Center for Neuroscience of Mental Disorders. Stricker received the Bellet Teaching Excellence Award in 2001 and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992.

“I’m pleased with what we have been able to accomplish during the five years I have been dean, which makes it easier for me to move on,” Stricker said in an email.