Scranton president moving on

CHRISTOPHER J. HUGHES

and RICH HOWELLS

For The Times Leader

SCRANTON – After steering The University of through a seven-year period of national recognition for academic success and record admissions rates, it was announced Tuesday that the Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., will leave the local Jesuit institution to lead Marquette University, effective next summer.

Pilarz, 51, will replace the Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J., who announced in March that he would leave the Milwaukee-based university after 15 years.

“The opportunity to lead this institution at a time of such momentum and promise is both exciting and humbling. As difficult as it will be to leave the community I have grown to love at Scranton, I am honored to have been chosen,” Pilarz said in a release from Marquette.

University of Scranton Board of Trustees Chair Christopher M. Condron said, “Given the outstanding success that we have accomplished through Father Pilarz’s (presidency), we are not surprised to find that Marquette University has selected him to serve as their next president.”

Condron said the board will announce its plans for choosing a successor in the next few weeks.

“Father Pilarz demonstrates enormous passion for the mission of Catholic, Jesuit education and boasts a record of accomplishment … that speaks directly to Marquette’s commitment to excellence,” Marquette Board Chairman Darren Jackson said.

Pilarz’s expressed plans for Marquette will mirror his first two years in Scranton.

“I’m very interested in interdisciplinary programs. I think we have to look at existing programs and everyone’s ‘wish lists’ and establish priorities,” he said.

The University of Scranton recently welcomed 970 new students to its downtown campus after adding more than 1,000 in both 2007 and 2009. In August, U.S. News and World Report ranked the private Catholic school 10th out of 165 universities in the northern region. It’s the 17th consecutive year the school made the rankings.

Pilarz became University of Scranton’s 24th president in 2003 after six years of service at Georgetown University.

Pilarz is the second area president to announce his departure in the last week. Wilkes University President Joseph E. “Tim” Gilmour has announced he will be stepping down in two years.