For only the ninth time in its 115-year history, Baylor School is looking to hire a president.

Dr. Bill Stacy, the former chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who has headed Baylor for the past four years, said he plans to retire from the Chattanooga prep school within the next two years when his current contract expires.

Baylor trustees posted the job opening this week with the National Association of Independent Schools, soliciting “an experienced administrator who must understand, honor and strengthen the traditions” of Baylor.

School officials said Friday that Dr. Stacy, who turns 70 years old on July 26, will continue to head the school until his successor is chosen and on the job.

“There is going to be a formal announcement made in August when the school community gets back on campus, and it could take up to a year or two to complete the search for a new CEO,” Baylor spokeswoman Barbara Kennedy said.

Baylor School Chairman Zan Guerry in June appointed a presidential search committee headed by Jack Stanford, a former Baylor administrator and school trustee. Mr. Stanford served as an interim headmaster at Baylor immediately prior to Dr. Stacy joining the school in 2004.

“It’s a very thorough and complex process to fill this position, and we’re seeking the very best match we can find for Baylor School,” Mr. Stanford said Friday. “Dr. Stacy was very generous with his announcement to give us plenty of time to plan for his replacement.”

Dr. Stacy served as chancellor at UTC for eight years and left the university after he unsuccessfully applied to become the president of the University of Tennessee. Before coming to Chattanooga in 1996, Dr. Stacy was president of California State University, San Marcos, and Southeast Missouri State University.

Baylor paid Dr. Stacy a compensation package worth $383,686 in the 2005-06 school year, the most recent year for which records for the nonprofit school are available from Guidestar.

The search for a new Baylor president comes only three weeks after another school leader, Bill Curry, announced he is leaving Baylor to become the first football coach at Georgia State University. Mr. Curry had served for the past two years as executive director of Leadership Baylor.

Mr. Stanford said Baylor trustees are not trying to redirect or refocus the 1,075-student school, which dates back to its start in downtown Chattanooga in 1893.

“We’re not looking for someone to come in and make major changes,” he said. “We’re looking for someone to continue to carry on the good work that is being done and make it even better.”

In a Web posting about the new job, Baylor said Dr. Stacy “was a major participant in a successful capital campaign to raise funds for faculty professional growth, a merit scholarship program, an aquatic center and wrestling arena rivaling any other arena in the region, major improvements to facilities for indoor and outdoor sports and a renovation of the student center.”

Dr. Stacy also helped launch the Leadership Baylor program for all high school students two years ago and raised funds for a new dormitory scheduled to open in the fall of 2009.

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