Kurt Krause, Virginia Tech's vice president for business affairs, is leaving the university to run the country's largest conference center.

Krause will be general manager of the 950-room National Conference Center in Lansdowne, just east of Leesburg.

His last day at Tech will be Nov. 15.

Krause, who spent 22 years in the hotel industry before taking a position with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and then returning to his alma mater in 2003, said he enjoyed his three years in Blacksburg but couldn't pass up the opportunity to return to the hotel business.

"Once it's in your blood, it's hard to get out," he said.

The vice president for business affairs is responsible for managing all facilities on campus -- including new construction -- as well as managing the university architect, police, real estate, environmental health safety and human resources.

The university just completed its new campus master plan, which calls for 2.9 million square feet of construction on the Blacksburg campus in the next decade.

During Krause's tenure, Tech completed 844,000 square feet of projects at a cost of $210 million. Another 268,000 square feet is under construction.

But Krause counts the decline in pedestrian accidents on campus as the most important accomplishment during his tenure.

Through the use of new road construction, lighting and crosswalk tools, annual pedestrian accidents declined from 15 to zero in the past four years, he said.

A committee, led by Krause's predecessor Ray Smoot, now the chief operating officer for the Virginia Tech Foundation, will conduct a national search for his replacement.

The group hopes to have one in place by the March meeting of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, Krause said. James Hyatt, Tech's executive vice president and chief operating officer will assume the bulk of Krause's duties in the interim.

Krause, a Tech football season ticket holder and adjunct professor whose daughter is a Tech freshman, said he plans to return to Blacksburg often.