Washington — Constantine W. (Deno) Curris announced today that he would retire as president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities after nine years on the job.

Mr. Curris, who has recently focused his attention on public-college accountability, did not specify what would be his last day in office.

Before joining the state-colleges group, in 1999, Mr. Curris served as president of three institutions: Murray State University, in Kentucky; the University of Northern Iowa; and Clemson University. A student center at Murray State and a business building at Northern Iowa bear his name.

Carlos Hernandez, president of New Jersey City University and chair of the state-colleges group’s Board of Directors, called Mr. Curris “a national leader in efforts to shape America’s educational policy agenda.”

Mr. Curris has also been an occasional contributor to The Chronicle, including articles about the public purposes of public colleges, in support of a unit-record system of collecting student data, and about getting college students to the polls. —Kelly Field