The University of St. Thomas will inaugurate a new president … the 15th in its 128-year history … on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Dr. Julie Sullivan will accept the presidential mace and chain of office, and deliver her inaugural address, at a 2 p.m. ceremony in the field house of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex on the university’s St. Paul campus.
Presidential inaugurations are rare events at St. Thomas. This is only the third one in 47 years; Monsignor Terrence Murphy became president in 1966 and Father Dennis Dease moved into Room 100 of Aquinas Hall 25 years later, in 1991.
Sullivan, 56, became the first layperson and the first woman to lead St. Thomas on July 1. A native of Florida, she comes to Minnesota from California where since 2005 she had been executive vice president and provost of the University of San Diego.
St. Thomas has canceled all Thursday afternoon classes so students, staff and faculty can attend the inauguration. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Jane.Jackelen@stthomas.edu. If you can’t be there in person, you can watch the ceremony live on your computer by going to the Newsroom website starting at 1:45 p.m. (Evening classes have not been canceled.)
The inauguration also can be viewed live on screens in Thornton Auditorium in Terrence Murphy Hall on the Minneapolis campus, and in the first-floor atrium of the Anderson Student Center on the St. Paul campus. Also, check the O’Shaughnessy Stadium’s videoboard for messages throughout the day.
Inaugural events Thursday begin with an invitation-only Mass at 10:30 a.m. in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas. All are welcome to a community luncheon at 11:45 a.m. on the John P. Monahan Plaza on the campus’ lower quadrangle. Following the inauguration, a reception with faculty, staff and invited guests will be held in the James B. Woulfe Alumni Hall in the Anderson Student Center.
The inauguration will open with a performance of “Firedance” by the St. Thomas Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the screening of a “Meet Julie Sullivan” video. After greetings from master of ceremonies Michael Dougherty, chair of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, the university’s Festival Choir will lead the audience in singing “We Gather Together to Hallow This Moment.” Father Jan Michael Joncas, St. Thomas’ artist in residence, composed the text for the inauguration.
Brief remarks will be given by Dr. Susan Huber, executive vice president and provost; Jenna Johnson, president of the Undergraduate Student Government; Dr. Richard Rexeisen, chair of the University Faculty; Aimeé Petra, president of the Alumni Board of Directors; and John M. Morrison of the Board of Trustees.
Presiding at the investiture ceremony, including the presentation of the presidential mace and chain of office, will be Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn, chair of the St. Thomas board, and Father Dennis Dease, the university’s president emeritus. The names of St. Thomas presidents are engraved on the stem of the bronze mace. The chain of office medallion, which Sullivan will accept during the investiture, features the seal of the university.
The ceremony will conclude with performances by St. Thomas’ Festival Choir and Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and a benediction from Father John Malone, vice president for mission.
In addition to members of the St. Thomas community, others attending the event will include benefactors, community leaders, college presidents and delegates from higher education institutions around the United States.
For an in-depth review of the path that prepared Julie Sullivan to lead St. Thomas, read The Right Place.
She holds a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Florida and is an internationally known scholar and educator in accounting and taxation. She has held professional leadership positions in organizations such as the American Accounting Association and is a past member of the editorial boards of four internationally known tax and accounting journals. She also serves on several public- and private-company, as well as nonprofit, boards.
Before serving at the University of San Diego, she taught or was an administrator at the University of California, San Diego, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Oklahoma.
She and her husband, Robert, have four children and three grandchildren. He is founding dean of the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego.