Saint Xavier University Trustees Unanimously Appoint New President

CHICAGO, IL -- The Saint Xavier University Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Laurie M. Joyner, Ph.D. as the university’s 20th president. Joyner will begin her presidency on Jan. 1, 2017, according to a news release.

Joyner brings extensive leadership experience to the University, having served as president of Wittenberg University, her most recent post, in Springfield, OH, and in multiple vice presidential and decanal roles at Winter Park, FL-based Rollins College. Prior to Rollins, Joyner served on the faculty and held administrative positions of increasing responsibility at Loyola University New Orleans. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Loyola University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from Tulane University.

President-elect Joyner’s appointment follows a search that was initiated upon President Christine Wiseman’s announcement of her intent to retire after a long and distinguished career and builds upon her efforts to generate long-term sustainability for Saint Xavier University. The presidential search committee was comprised of a diverse group of faculty, staff, and trustees, many of whom were university alumnae.

The SXU board chairman Timothy Trahey thanks the search committee for their diligence and hard work that culminated in Joyner’s unanimous recommendation by the board.
“As we look to the future, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary dedication of President Wiseman who has served the university for nearly seven years, bringing genuine concern for student success to the forefront of our institutions efforts,” Trahey said in a written statement.

John Costello, past chairman of the SXU board and a member of the presidential search committee, said Joyner stood out from other candidates in the search.

“Throughout the search process, Dr. Joyner emerged as a mission-driven educator and accomplished university administrator who is passionately committed to institutional success,” Costello said. “Her sustained record of accomplishment is well-aligned with the strategic needs and priorities of the university moving forward.”

The Springfield News-Sun reported that Joyner’s resignation on Nov. 5 as president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America-run Wittenberg University came amid steep budget cuts and mixed emotions from the Ohio campus. Nevertheless, Joyner expressed gratitude as being named SXU’s next president.

“I am deeply honored to serve as the next president of Saint Xavier University,” Dr. Joyner said in a news release. I am looking forward to working with such an extraordinary learning community to build upon the university’s Mercy heritage and impressive 170-year history of providing high quality, person-centered education in Chicago.”

The New Orleans-native Joyner assumes her new presidential role as Saint Xavier continues to deal with Illinois’s budget impasse, which forced the university to close a satellite campus in Gilbert, AZ, less than a year after it opened and when the town took out $37 million in bonds to build a downtown campus, the Arizona Republic reported in June.

SXU cited the increased costs associated with educating a high-need, diverse student population in Chicago, over half of whom receive Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) awards.

Photo: Laurie Joyner, Ph.D. | Provided