Lead Negotiator in Probe to Resign

William F. Massy, Stanford University’s chief financial officer and lead negotiator with the federal government in the much-publicized investigation of research spending at the school, has announced his retirement, effective Saturday, according to a statement released by the university.

Massy, 57, said last November that he intended to return soon to teaching and to devote more of his time to his position as director of a Stanford think tank on issues of higher education.

In November, the government probe at Stanford had begun but had not yet attracted wide public attention.