This editorial appeared in the News & Record, Greensboro.

After nearly 14 transformative years at the helm of the Triad's largest university, former UNCG Chancellor Patricia Sullivan had looked forward to tamping down her hectic schedule and returning to one of her earlier loves: the classroom. Sad to say, she won't get that chance.

Sullivan, 69, died Thursday after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. She had retired in 2008, handing over to her successor, Linda Brady, a sprawling, fast-growing institution whose scholarship and research were thriving and whose reputation as "a suitcase college" was steadily fading.

Sullivan outwardly could appear prim and buttoned-down. But there was no mistaking her passion for the school and her ability to get things done.

On her watch, UNCG added 10 new doctoral programs.

Enrollment surged by 36 percent to more than 17,000 students.

The school raised $100 million in its Students First fundraising campaign, meeting its goal a year early.

UNCG partnered with N.C. A&T to create a pair of satellite research campuses, one of which houses the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.

UNCG ranked among the best colleges and universities to work for in the country, according to a 2008 employee survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The university also remade itself physically, converting College Avenue, at Sullivan's behest, to a pedestrian promenade, reshaping the school's entrance on Spring Garden Street, adding new residence halls and renovating the student center.

During her tenure, UNCG became more than a place to go to college; it became a place to experience college.

Sullivan also had become the senior chancellor in the UNC system by the time she retired. College CEOs typically serve for half as long in jobs that are known for their relentless demands and day-to-day pressures.

That's why it seems especially sad that, in the end, she had so little time to enjoy the considerable fruits of her leadership.