Christine McEntee, executive vice president and CEO since 2006 of the American Institute of Architects, will leave her post July 23, the professional and lobbying group for 83,000 international architects, said April 19. No successor was named for McEntee, who is set to become executive director of the American Geophysical Union, a non-profit organization of 50,000 international geophysicists.

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AIA said that McEntee and the group’s “staff of seasoned professionals” will continue to run the group during the transition, and that a national search for a successor is under way. McEntee, the 153-year-old group’s first woman CEO, formerly served in that capacity at the American College of Cardiology.

McEntee said her decision to leave AIA “comes at a time when the [group] is strong and poised to take advantage of new opportunities that will add member value.” But AIA officials did not elaborate on the impact of the industry recession on the group’s membership and financial condition.