Grove City College has announced the retirement of President Dr. John H. Moore, effective June 30.

Moore became GCC's seventh president in June 1996.

In October 1996, he led the college through its withdrawal from federal student loan programs and instituted an innovative student loan program financed by a major bank. This move followed the college's suit against the federal Department of Education regarding religious freedom; the suit was argued in front of the Supreme Court in 1984.

Moore led the college in its "Change & Commitment" capital campaign, surpassing its $20 million goal for student aid by $4 million. A new $21 million academic building, Hall of Arts and Letters was constructed, and a $4 million addition to the Pew Fine Arts Center was completed. Funds are now being raised for a new student activities center and alumni center.

During Moore's tenure, Barron's magazine recognized GCC as one of the 62 "Most Competitive" in the nation, a distinction based on the academic quality of its student body. U.S. News & World Report ranked the college as the No. 1 Best Value and No. 4 Best College in its category.

Moore also instituted exchange agreements with Kyushu University of Japan and Seoul Women's University of South Korea.

Moore holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and earned a doctorate in economics in 1966 from the University of Virginia.

He was given an honorary doctorate from the University Francisco Marroquin in 1997. Moore has published numerous books and articles on a range of subjects, including science policy and the economic systems of Eastern and Central Europe.

More is a Procter & Gamble research chemist, associate director and senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and was President Reagan's deputy director of the National Science Foundation. He and his wife have two grown sons and a grandson.

Moore will be 68 at his retirement, when he will be named president emeritus.

A search committee has been formed to find a replacement.