PHILADELPHIA (September 10, 2010) – Saint Joseph's University President Timothy R. Lannon, S.J., has informed the University community that he will leave the University at the conclusion of the current academic year (2010-11) to become the president of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Today in Omaha, Creighton’s Board of Directors concluded its search and elected Father Lannon as that institution’s 24th president, effective July 2011. Officials at Creighton and Saint Joseph’s are making simultaneous announcements on their respective campuses, notifying faculty, staff, students and alumni of both universities.

“What Fr. Lannon has brought to Saint Joseph’s over the past seven years, and continues to bring, cannot be celebrated enough,” said Paul J. Hondros ’70, chair of the University’s Board of Trustees. “As we embark on a new academic year, anyone who has worked closely with Fr. Lannon knows that he is not likely to rest until the last step of his own Saint Joseph’s journey is complete.”

Fr. Lannon, an alumnus of Creighton and a native Midwesterner, made the announcement “with considerably mixed emotions.” Acknowledging that the decision to leave Saint Joseph’s was a very difficult one, he wrote that ”we have accomplished tremendous things and I know that will continue long after I have left Saint Joseph’s University.”

Reflecting on his years at Saint Joseph’s, he said, “Together, with the talent and support of the entire University community, Saint Joseph’s has positioned itself to thrive as a dynamic academic institution, dedicated to offering a transformative student experience grounded in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition and the Ignatian vision of educating ‘men and women for others.’”

Fr. Lannon’s departure comes as the University concludes its most ambitious capital campaign, “With Faith and Strength to Dare: The Campaign for Saint Joseph’s University,” which to date has raised $139 million of its stated $150 million goal. Since beginning his term as Saint Joseph’s 26th president in July 2003, he has been at the helm of major University initiatives, most notably the purchase of Episcopal Academy’s 38-acre Merion campus, now named for alumnus James J. Maguire ’58 and significantly expanding opportunities to enhance academic programs and campus life.

During his tenure, the University has extensively upgraded student housing and other facilities including the Campion Student Center, the Science Center and the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, now known as the Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena. The University’s endowment has doubled, and earlier this year, Fr. Lannon unveiled “Plan 2020: Gateway to the Future,” a 10-year strategic blueprint for Saint Joseph’s growth and positioning over the next decade. He also announced plans to build a new residence hall for 400 first-year students, to be completed by July 2012. He has played a significant role in boosting Saint Joseph’s academic reputation, an effort that includes new endowed faculty chairs and student scholarships, the revision of the undergraduate curriculum, and the opening of the Pedro Arrupe Center for Business Ethics, the Catholic Bioethics Institute and the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support.

The University’s Board of Trustees is preparing for the presidential transition at the end of the academic year and will soon announce plans for the search for SJU’s 27th president, Hondros noted.

A native of Mason City, Iowa, Fr. Lannon attended Creighton University as an undergraduate where he was student body president, and later became president of Creighton Preparatory School. He holds graduate degrees from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology (now Boston College School of Theology and Ministry) as well as a doctorate in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

At Creighton, Fr. Lannon will succeed the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., who in July announced his decision to retire as of July 1, 2011, after an 11-year tenure as Creighton’s president.