LEWISTON — The president of Bates College in Maine is stepping down after nine years.

Elaine Tuttle Hansen, the seventh president at Bates, said Wednesday she’ll step down in July to assume a new job elsewhere she said will be disclosed in the next two weeks.

During her tenure, she increased student financial aid, boosted fundraising, developed a plan for facility upgrades and completed a strategic planning process for curriculum, research and student life.

But her biggest achievement may be guiding the institution through the recession.

Bates Trustee Scott Bierman says Hansen “managed the college with skill and determination through the most turbulent economic times in recent memory.”