University of St. Thomas President Julie Sullivan is leaving Minnesota's largest private college after nine years at its helm to become the next president of Santa Clara University in California.
University of St. Thomas president leaving to lead California university
After nine years, President Julie Sullivan will depart for Santa Clara University.
March 1, 2022 at 9:45PM
Sullivan will step down from St. Thomas at the end of the academic year and start at the private California university on July 1. She will be the first woman and layperson to lead the Jesuit university in its 171-year history. Santa Clara University updated its bylaws last June to remove the requirement that its president be a Jesuit priest.
The St. Thomas board of trustees has appointed law school Dean Rob Vischer as interim president, effective June 1. St. Thomas soon will begin a national search for a new president.
"Leading St. Thomas has been an extraordinary privilege and opportunity," Sullivan said in a statement. "I leave confident that the momentum we have collectively built will seamlessly continue with the strong leadership at St. Thomas."
The move will bring Sullivan closer to her husband, children and four grandchildren, all of whom live in California. Her four grandsons live just minutes from Santa Clara, she said.
"The unique combination of leading an outstanding Jesuit, Catholic institution, along with the strong pull of my family, makes this an opportunity that I cannot pass up," Sullivan said.
Under Sullivan's leadership, St. Thomas moved to Division I athletics, opened the Morrison Family College of Health and launched Dougherty Family College — a two-year associate degree program within the university.
The university also raised almost $300 million in philanthropy, including $100 million for scholarships, and opened new facilities and renovated existing ones.
"She succeeded in elevating St. Thomas, building a team of strong leaders, and implementing several transformational priorities during her tenure," said Pat Ryan, chair of the St. Thomas board of trustees.
Vischer has served as the law school's dean for 10 years, helping improve employment rates for its graduates, maintaining its top-25 scholarly impact ranking, and establishing partnerships with law schools from more than a dozen countries.
He takes over as St. Thomas is in the second year of implementing its 2025 strategic plan.
"I am confident that as interim president, Rob Vischer, a trusted and known leader at St. Thomas, will continue the strong momentum that is embedded in our trajectory as a university," Ryan said.
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