(Updated to include comment from chair of the Board of Regents)
Wichita business owner Jon Rolph will be leaving the Kansas Board of Regents at the end of the month.
In an interview Monday, Rolph said he will step down from the board June 30, two years before his term on the panel lapses. His term expires in 2027.
Rolph, president and chief executive officer of Thrive Restaurant Group, said he needs to devote more time to his business.
Thrive owns and operates 172 restaurants, including Applebee’s, Carlo O’Kelly’s, HomeGrown, Modern Market and BakeSale.
Thrive is the nation’s second-largest Applebee’s franchisee with restaurants in 15 states across the Midwest, the Carolinas and Appalachia.
In July 2024, Thrive signed a deal with Qdoba to open 30 new restaurants in North and South Carolina over the next few years.
“We’ve got a growing business, and it needs a full-time CEO,” Rolph said.
“I do love the work and I believe in it deeply,” Rolph said of his time with the regents. “If I can’t be all in, then it’s a struggle for me.”
He added, “We just have some opportunities inside the business that I think require more of my attention.
“You can’t always control the ebbs and flows of when opportunities come your way.”
He said his company is opening 45 new restaurants in the Carolinas over the next four years and exploring franchise opportunities for the HomeGrown brand.
“There’s just a lot of great things going on,” he said.
Gov. Laura Kelly appointed Rolph to the board in 2019 and reappointed him again in 2023.
He served as board chair from 2022 to 2024.
“Jon is an enthusiastic supporter of higher education who has prioritized the needs of Kansans and our state during his time on the board,” said Carl Ice, chair of the Kansas Board of Regents.
“His leadership has helped our system implement and move forward many key strategic initiatives,” Ice said in a statement.
“He has been an outstanding colleague, and I wish him the best of luck in this next chapter.”
Gov. Laura Kelly thanked Rolph for his leadership on the board.
“As chair and vice chair, he has been instrumental in moving our higher education system forward and developing the next generation of Kansas talent,” the governor said in a statement.
Rolph’s reappointment to the board in 2023 drew questions from lawmakers about his support for diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education, although the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed his reappointment.
During his term on the board, Rolph revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Rolph said he was diagnosed with a paraganglioma tumor, which was found while he underwent an executive physical.
Rolph said there were no symptoms, and the mass — the size of a fist — was found in his abdomen while undergoing a routine CT scan.
A paraganglioma is an abnormal growth of cells that forms from a specific type of nerve cell that’s found throughout the body. They are generally benign.
Rolph said was a 95% chance of survival in five years after undergoing surgery. Rolph said he just got a clean bill of health in April from his physician.
Rolph was a two-time student body president at Baylor University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 2001.
After graduating, Rolph worked with college student leaders as an intern for the National Student Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C.
He returned to Kansas in 2002 to work in the family-owned businesses started by his father and his uncle.
Rolph and his wife, Lauren, have been married for more than 18 years and have six children, ranging in age from four to 15.
