Harvard Provost Steven Hyman will step down at the end of the academic year after nearly 10 years at his post, he announced last Wednesday. Hyman served through the resignation of former president Larry Summers and the recent national economic crisis, which Harvard’s provost called the greatest challenge of his time in office, the Boston Globe reported.

A neuroscientist, Hyman helped start interdisciplinary research endeavors such as the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the Broad Institute, a Cambridge-based genomics research organization. After finishing his tenure as provost, Hyman plans to spend a sabbatical year at the Broad Institute.