Anti-War Activist Ayers to Retire from UIC

Radical Vietnam War protester William Ayers is retiring after more than 20 years as an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Education Dean Vicki Chou says Ayers' retirement will become official later this month.

Ayers co-founded the Weather Underground, an anti-war group held responsible for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

Ayers' past became a political issue during the 2008 presidential campaign because President Barack Obama served with Ayers on the board of a Chicago charity. There's no evidence they were ever close friends.

Chou said Ayers' retirement had nothing to do the controversy surrounding him, adding he was a "good colleague'' and hundreds of students cherish they were taught by him.

A spokesman for the university said Thursday that Ayers would not be available for comment.