Press Releases
Trustees Name Presidential Search Committee
Saint Xavier University Board Selects Committee, Begins Search for Yanikoski Successor
CHICAGO (February 28, 2003) – Saint Xavier University’s Board of Trustees recently appointed an 11-member presidential search committee to lead the search for a new university president. Kenneth A. Skopec, vice chairman of MB Financial Corporation and a member of the university’s board of trustees, is committee chairman.
“I am deeply honored to serve as chairman of this committee that will seek a leader to continue the remarkable progress that has occurred under President Yanikoski’s tenure,” Skopec said. “Saint Xavier is a vital asset to our neighborhood and to our city. The committee is confident that we will attract highly qualified candidates for this key position.”
A resident of Oak Lawn, Skopec has served on Saint Xavier’s board for six years and has chaired the board’s assets committee. He currently serves as vice chairman of MB Financial, a Chicago-based bank holding company.
President Richard Yanikoski announced on December 9 that he would leave his post to pursue scholarly interests when his current contract expires this summer. Yanikoski is finishing his third three-year contract with Saint Xavier and declined to renew for a fourth term following a highly favorable performance review late last fall from the board of trustees. Yanikoski plans to begin what he anticipates will be a ten-year research agenda concerning the status and future of Catholic higher education.
The presidential search committee is composed of five trustees, three of whom are alumni, three faculty members and three staff members. The board of trustees selected committee members based on nominations from the university community. Committee members are:
-Kenneth A. Skopec, chairman of the presidential search committee and member, Saint Xavier Board of Trustees
-Trustee Sr. Mary Ellen Caron, RSM, special assistant to the CEO, Chicago Public Schools and member, Saint Xavier Board of Trustees
-Trustee Sr. Joy Clough, RSM ’65, president, Sisters of Mercy, Chicago and member, Saint Xavier Board of Trustees
-Trustee Darrell B. Jackson ’81, senior vice president, The Northern Trust and member, Saint Xavier Board of Trustees
-Trustee Mary Clare Loftus ’65, member, Saint Xavier Board of Trustees
-Linda Burke, Ed.D, associate professor, School of Education
-Brian McKenna, J.D., M.B.A., associate professor, Graham School of Management
-Carol Poston, Ph.D., professor, English and Foreign Languages
-Ellen Dennis, executive secretary, Office of Development and Alumni Relations
-Beth Gierach, managing director, Office of Admission
-Richard Venneri, Ph.D., associate vice president, Academic Affairs
The presidential search committee will begin its work immediately and will retain an executive search firm to assist with recruitment and consideration of candidates. A call for nominations and applications will be issued in the near future.
Saint Xavier University is a private, coeducational institution serving more than 5,200 men and women with high quality academic programs. It offers 36 undergraduate majors and 32 graduate program options in four schools: School of Arts and Sciences, School of Education, Graham School of Management, and School of Nursing. Located in a residential neighborhood in Chicago, the University offers personalized education that emphasizes challenging undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs of study. Crain’s Chicago Business (July 1, 2002) recognized Saint Xavier University for achieving the highest percentage of enrollment growth among Chicago-area universities and colleges during the previous year, increasing 6.3 percent. And, U.S. News & World Report named Saint Xavier in its 2002 “Best Colleges” issue as a best value and for its diversity as a master’s degree-granting institution in the Midwest region.