The Associated Press

PULLMAN, Wash. — The president of Washington State University, Elson Floyd, has died at 59 of complications from colon cancer.

Floyd had been president since 2007 and went on medical leave earlier this month. He died this morning at Pullman Regional Hospital.

In a statement from the university, the chair of the Board of Regents, Ryan Durkan, said Floyd will be remembered for a successful $1 billion capital campaign, for gaining bipartisan support for a medical school at WSU’s Spokane campus and for leading the school to its largest enrollment in 125 years.

Durkan said Floyd maintained a positive outlook as he led the school and dealt with cancer.

Floyd, a native of North Carolina, was the university’s 10th president.

[He visited the North Olympic Peninsula during a two-day visit in April 2010.]