Former Bucks student and Centurion staffer Steve Capus, who rose through the ranks of NBC to become president of the network’s news division, has announced he is resigning his position.

After nearly seven years as news division president and 20 years with the peacock network, Capus sent word to his fellow employees on Feb. 1 that he would resign. He did not give a reason.

“It has been a privilege to have spent two decades here, but it is now time to head in a new direction,” Capus said in a heartfelt letter.

Capus grew up in Warminster. He was a student at Bucks in the early 1980s and worked for the Centurion newspaper.

Capus had visited Bucks’ Newtown campus twice in the early 2000s to speak at the journalism program’s “Media Day” event. In those appearances he discussed NBC’s coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks and the subsequent war in Iraq.

In 2006 Capus was commencement speaker at Bucks’ graduation.

“Even though he was no doubt incredibly busy Steve Capus was always very generous with his time,” said journalism Professor Tony Rogers. “His presentations at our journalism forums were incredibly interesting and insightful, and he was always happy to stay afterwards and talk to journalism students. It was a real thrill to have someone of his caliber here.”

Capus received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University in 1986.

After his graduation from Temple, Capus began his career in production and worked at several radio and TV stations including WCAU-TV, WCSD-FM, and KYW-TV.

In 1993, Capus joined the NBC News team as the senior producer of “NBC Nightside.” From that position, he spent the next 12 years working his way up until becoming president of the news division in 2005.

“Of course, it is an extremely difficult decision to walk away from a place that has been the backdrop for everything in my life since 1993,” Capus said in his letter. “I have thrived in some extraordinary newsrooms, working with talented teams. Side by side, we have documented the historic, the unforgettable, and the exquisitely ordinary. We have been through so much together.”

Capus continued his letter by recounting some of the most historic stories he had helped cover.

Some of his producing accomplishments include producing for NBC Sunrise, Today, MSNBC’s The News with Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Capus was also a producer for the company during notable news stories such as the Sept. 11 terror attacks and coverage of several elections.

In a memo released by Patricia Fili-Krushel, the chairwoman of MSNBC, she had nothing but praise for Capus and his time spent with NBC.

“Steve has proven time and again why he’s considered to be among the best in the business and has been recognized with some of the industry’s highest honors.” Fili-Krushel stated. “His journalistic excellence has been demonstrated over the years on a wide array of stories. In the past several months alone he led NBC News’ coverage of the presidential Election, Hurricane Sandy and the tragedy at Sandy Hook.  NBC News is America’s leading source of television news and Steve has been a big part of that success.”

Capus concluded his memo to NBC employees by saying: “It is impossible to fully express how much I respect the people of NBC News. To call everyone “colleagues” has been a true honor, but to call so many of you dear friends has been a true gift. Thank you for everything. I could not be prouder of what we have accomplished together.”

Though Capus did not detail the reasons for his departure, critics charged that he was at least partly to blame for falling ratings at the network’s “Today Show” and for the poorly handled firing of Ann Curry as that show’s co-host.