Mary Sellers will step down as president and CEO of the Science Center of Iowa this summer after nine years of leading the organization. Sellers plans to return to Florida to be closer to family. A specific departure date has not yet been set.

Sellers and her husband, Sean, left Florida in 1999 so that she could oversee the planning and development of the new $62 million Science Center downtown. She facilitated conversations with key stakeholders and constituents and built a team that secured enough donations to construct the 110,000-square-foot museum and the Blank IMAX Dome Theater, which opened in May 2005.

“Mary has a unique ability to inspire vision in others and then strategically lead implementation of that vision,” said Karen Shaff, chair of the Science Center’s board of directors, in a press release. “The Science Center of Iowa built for this community, by this community, will forever stand as a tribute to the people she brought together through shared passion.”

Within two years of opening, SCI had more than 1 million visitors. Under Sellers’ leadership, SCI also became a governing member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers and was accredited by the American Association of Museums, the only facility in Des Moines to be awarded this distinction.

“I am proud of our collective accomplishments and take great solace in knowing the institution is well-positioned for continued growth,” Sellers said in a release. “I will remain at SCI to assist with a smooth transition in any way possible and will leave confident that this organization is in the best of hands.”

SCI’s board of directors will conduct a national search for a new president.