Hawaii Public Radio President and General Manager Michael Titterton will step down at the end of June, and a nationwide search is underway to find a successor.

The London-born Titterton said he has “no immediate professional plans” following his departure, but does not consider his move to be retirement.

“As I was discussing this whole move with different people, they kept using that word, but it doesn’t sound right,” Titterton said.

Titterton’s service to Hawaii Public Radio “has been nothing short of extraordinary,” former HPR board member Judge Richard R. Clifton said in a statement.

“HPR was cash-strapped when he arrived, having suffered from several annual deficits during the difficult 1990s, and it is now nationally recognized among nonprofit organizations for its financial responsibility.”

Between the board’s vision of establishing two statewide program streams and Titterton’s efforts, including cultivating a staff “of outstanding talents” and emphasizing local programming, “it would be fair to say that his performance exceeded not only our expectations but also our dreams,” Clifton said.

At the time he joined the Hawaii stations in 1999, the nonprofit had four transmitters, an annual operating budget of $1.6 million and some 7,000 members who donated about 43 percent of station funding. HPR now has 13 frequencies across the island chain, a budget of $4.8 million and 13,000 members who contribute about 65 percent of the budget.

Titterton said his leisure plans include traveling with his wife, Madeleine McKay, rereading Charles Dickens, and efforts to “see if I can come to some sort of understanding of quantum mechanics.”

He has a machine shop in which he builds various types of equipment. Currently he is working on a project for a magician in St. Louis, creating “intricate pieces of machinery” for use in illusions. “Very high-precision” work, he said.

Finding someone to fill Titterton’s shoes “will be one of the biggest challenges that HPR has faced,” Dr. Tyrie Jenkins, president of the stations’ board of directors, said in a statement.

“He has brought vibrancy to this organization and positioned it for future success,” she said, crediting him with putting “Hawaii on the map of public radio stations nationwide.”

“We will miss his day-to-day presence, but are sure his vision will remain intrinsic to HPR,” Jenkins said.

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