Conrado M. Gempesaw, Ph.D has been elected the 17th president of St. John’s University, the Presidential Search Committee announced in an email this morning.
Gempesaw, who comes to St. John’s from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, will succeed interim president Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M. and officially begin his tenure July 1. Gempesaw is currently serving as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Miami University.
The email announcement, which came from Presidential Search Committee co-chairs Peter D’Angelo and Rev. Michael Carroll, C.M., said that Dr. Gempesaw is “a visionary leader who understands and embraces St. John’s mission as a Catholic and Vincentian university, and has the skills necessary to realize our goals for the future.” Gempesaw will be the first president who is a member of the laity. He and his wife are members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Ohio, according to the announcement.
In his current position, “Gempesaw led the development of new academic initiatives to enhance retention and graduation rates, increase international enrollment and global partnerships, establish student learning outcomes assessment practices, and create e-learning niche programs and market strategies,” the announcement said.
Gempesaw holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from The Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Science degree in agricultural economics from West Virginia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Ateneo de Davao University in the Philippines, according to the release and his LinkedIn page.
Rev. Levesque, C.M., took over as interim president on August 1, 2013, following the resignation of Rev. Donald Harrington, C.M., in July 2013.
