But along with the much-lauded accomplishments of his term, Duderstadt leaves behind a record interspersed with controversy and tumult. From the creation of the Department of Public Safety to the implementation of the Code of Student Conduct, the Duderstadt administration has, at times, fanned the flames of student anger.
After nearly eight years in what he once winkingly referred to as "Duderstadt's inferno," the president says he is prepared to embrace civic life with open arms.
Duderstadt said he has completed all of his initial goals.
"There is always a question of what you can accomplish as you stay on," he said. "All that we'd originally set out to accomplish, we'd accomplished.
"You have to decide at what time do you declare victory."
Racking up "a sleep debt" from a constant schedule full of activity, the outgoing president said it is an appropriate time to step down.
Duderstadt said university presidents often fear they will burn out and lose the love they have for their institution.
But this president said he is lucky.
"(Anne and I) are stepping out of this role with as much love and loyalty for this university as we have ever had," he said.
Duderstadt said his presidency was heavily influenced by his background as an engineer.
"It is a characteristic of my particular discipline ... to invent the future," he said. "It was my role to develop a vision of the future and position the University to move into that future."
Duderstadt, who will be remembered by many as "the visionary," said that is precisely the mark he wants to leave.
"If I were to pick a president in the history of the University, I would hope I'm remembered more like Tappan, as someone who has planted the seeds for a new type of institution," Duderstadt said.
"I hope my role has been to develop a new sense of what the University is and what it can become."
Duderstadt's term has seen an ambitious investment in technology-related initiatives and major renovation projects around Central Campus.
But the presidency has not come without costs.
Duderstadt said the hiring process he underwent in 1987 and 1988 took a grueling toll, which lingered throughout his term.
"It is difficult to be an internal candidate," he said. "I am not sure I would go through it again."
Duderstadt said he became "the calibration point" for all the other presidential possibilities, leaving him open to criticism.
He noted how rare it is for presidents of major universities to spend their entire academic life at a single institution.
But he said he has wondered what his career would have been like if he had been the president of another university instead.
"My wife and I are very satisfied in what we have been able to accomplish," Duderstadt said. "Maybe we would have done it at another university."
Duderstadt said one of the toughest parts of the job was being under constant scrutiny.
"I can't live or breathe without being on the front page of the paper for one thing or another," he said.
He made newspapers' front pages when he defended the necessity to create the Code of Student Conduct and the implementation of the Department of Public Safety. While conceding that these were not projects he "particularly enjoyed," he said it was essential to bring the University in line with the rest of the country's major schools.
These two initiatives were much-discussed among students, many of whom have said Duderstadt is too isolated from the student body.
"I haven't had enough time to deal with students on a one-to-one basis," Duderstadt admitted. "I am like a mayor of a city of 70,000. It's understandable that in a large city, many citizens don't get to meet the mayor."
Duderstadt added, however, that relations between the administration and students improved over his term and that dialogue between the two groups is now less confrontational.
Duderstadt said a troubling weakness was an inability to relay the importance of higher education to the mass media and the rest of society.
"It is difficult to persuade the public, elected public officials and the media that higher education in America is this nation's most precious resource," Duderstadt said.
"I worry enormously that we have not been able to articulate well enough how important and fragile these are," he said.
During his presidency, Duderstadt defended the University to national and state politicians who often wanted to cut funding.
Last year, the University faced the threat of reduced funds from the state because of the increased number of out-of-state students, which caused tension between the University and other state schools that received greater funding.
Now, Duderstadt says the institutions are working with a greater spirit of cooperation.
"It is terribly important to work with alliances. You have to work with other universities in Michigan," he said. "If you get into a competitive situation and it becomes a football game, it is game nobody will win."
Duderstadt said his ability to be a "harvester" brought many accomplished professors and administrators to the University.
"I have been able to attract some extraordinary people to join me," he said. "I am not the most creative person. What I am good at is attracting good people."
Despite his admitted weariness, Duderstadt said he may someday lead another institution.
"I am at an age where most people first become president," he said. "I can't rule out never leading an institution again. But not in the near future."
But Duderstadt said he will always be a part of the University, even after his presidency ends July 1.
"We're Michigan," Duderstadt said. "This place has as much of us in it as we have of it in us."
-- This report was compiled from interviews with President James Duderstadt over the past three months.
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There wasn't much time to run around the track or work out on the stairmaster -- two of his extracurricular activities.
And if Duderstadt decides to celebrate eight years of leading the University of Michigan, he may choose to visit Disney World, his favorite vacation spot.
Walter Harrison, vice president for University relations, also said Duderstadt's favorite television show "appears to be `Murphy Brown.'"
"He never misses it," Harrison said.
"He does not go to the movies much, but loves Monty Python and frequently quotes from their movies," Harrison added.
Although he will not be serving as president, Duderstadt said he will continue fund-raising efforts, reaching out to the University's many constituencies.
Duderstadt said much of his spare time as president was occupied in personal writing.
"I write volumes and volumes and volumes," he said. He said the writings include designs for organizations and "doodling," adding that he likes to use writing as an outlet for "dreaming up new ideas."
Duderstadt's new office will be located in the recently completed Media Union, where he will work to expand the technological infrastructure not only at the University, but across the state.
He said he will work on the creation of an educational program on the Internet "that would draw on the capacity of 50 universities in this country."
"That is probably going to be one of my first assignments," he said.
Gov. John Engler also has asked him to set up a statewide virtual university.
Harrison said Duderstadt's interests extend beyond keyboards and modems.
"I doubt he'll be remembered as the warm and fuzzy president, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about people," Harrison said.
Provost J. Bernard Machen said Duderstadt's interpersonal communications have marked his presidency.
"This is a guy who is just as comfortable at McDonald's as he is at Escoffier," Machen said, referring to the national fast-food franchise and the local French restaurant.
Machen said some of Duderstadt's most positive -- and least publicized -- qualities are his sense of humor and his fondness for people.
After June 30, Duderstadt will no longer have to play the role of host at football games and tailgate parties, but instead he will have time to enjoy watching the competition, another one of his favorite activities.
In the fall, before one of the football games, Duderstadt may now even have time to cook what he called "a mean apple pie," a hobby of seasonal interest.
But it does not appear likely that Duderstadt's most memorable contributions will be made in the culinary field.
Like the two replicas of the Energizer Bunny that adorn his office desk, Duderstadt is known for a drive that keeps going and going and going.