Click here to learn more about the presidential search process

Board of Trustees Chairman Robert J. Daugherty today announced the appointment of the committee that will lead the process of searching for and making recommendations to the Board regarding the selection of the 21^st president of St. Bonaventure University. 

University President Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., announced in January her plans to step down effective July 31, 2016, following 12 years as president and a total of nearly 20 years of service at St. Bonaventure. 

The appointment of the committee follows nearly two months of research and consultation by board leaders, who considered literature and advice from the Association of Governing Boards, American Association of University Professors, former search committee members and chairs, other board members, and search firm executives in formulating the composition and membership of the committee and the overall plan for the search.

“We were advised that smaller is better when it comes to the size of a search committee, and that Board members, according to the Board bylaws, must hold a majority of the committee seats,” said Daugherty.

“From the outside looking in, we want the committee to be clearly representative of stakeholders, in touch with our current student body, and knowledgeable of the future we’re working to create together,” said Daugherty.

Presidential Search Committee Leadership

Co-chairing the committee will be alumnus and Board member James Meyer, ’76 & ’79, CEO of SiriusXM Radio, Inc., (right) and emeritus board member and alumnus Leslie C. Quick III, ’75, managing partner and founding partner of Massey Quick & Co., LLC, a wealth management and investment consulting company. 

Meyer has served on the Board of Trustees since 2007. As CEO of the largest radio broadcaster measured by revenue, with 29 million subscribers, he oversees all aspects of the company's operations from its New York City corporate headquarters. Previously, Meyer had been SiriusXM’s president of Operations and Sales, responsible for overseeing and directing the company’s automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) business, online services, retail markets, product management, and engineering functions.  Prior to joining SiriusXM in May 2004, Meyer was president of Aegis Ventures, a general management consulting company, where he provided support for SiriusXM. Before Aegis, he held a number of senior management positions in consumer electronics over a 25-year period, including as the Senior Executive Vice President of Digital Media Solutions for Thomson, a worldwide leader in consumer electronics, with full responsibility for Thomson’s Digital Media Solutions Business Unit, a global business serving the entertainment, broadcast and content industries. Prior to joining Thomson, Meyer also held senior management positions at General Electric and RCA.

Meyer also serves on the board of Rovi Corporation. He earned his B.S. in economics and MBA from St. Bonaventure University.

Quick began his career in 1975 as the fourth employee of Quick and Reilly Inc., the first New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) member to offer discount stock brokerage to the investing public. During his 28 years with the firm, he served in many capacities. He was a key member of the management team that built the branch network, started and grew a major clearing firm, acquired and ran a major NASDAQ market making firm, made many acquisitions of NYSE specialist firms and built one of the industry’s first electronic Internet trading platforms. Quick was the company liaison for Quick and Reilly in 1983 when it offered stock to the public and became listed on the NYSE. He completed his tenure as chairman of Fleet Securities, Inc. in 2003 after Fleet Bank had acquired Quick and Reilly Group, Inc. in 1998.

Quick has served on many industry boards and committees, including the NYSE Hearing Board, the Board of Governors of the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Board of Directors of the Securities Industry Association and District Committee #10 of the NASD. Currently, he is chairman of the board for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hudson, Essex & Union counties, and also serves on the boards of the Bishop’s Finance Council for the Diocese of Metuchen and the Finance Council for Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He serves on the Investment Committees for the Diocese of Metuchen, St. Mary’s Abbey/Delbarton, and the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province. He also served as the chairman of the Campaign for the Heart at Morristown Memorial Hospital and is a trustee for the Foundation for Morristown Medical Center. 

Quick earned a BBA in finance from St. Bonaventure University, which elected him as a trustee emeritus and awarded him an honorary doctorate degree. He is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Flame of Charity’s Man of the Year award.

Search Committee Members

Board Representatives

In addition to Meyer and Quick, the following members of the Board of Trustees have accepted appointments to the search committee.  Click here for biographies and photos of the search committee members.

Kathleen Colucci, ’77, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, is Vice President for Global Sales Transformation for the IBM Corporation.

Fr. Kevin Mullen, O.F.M., Provincial Minister of the Holy Name Province of Franciscan Friars

Paul McDonald, ’80, Senior Executive Director of Robert Half Management Resources, a division of Robert Half International

Kristan McMahon, ’97, President of St. Bonaventure’s National Alumni Association Board (NAAB). 

Dr. Yvonne Minor-Ragan, President, YMRagan Consulting, LLC

Campus Representatives

Dr. Pauline Hoffmann, Dean of the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a member of the University Planning Commission.

Sophomore Haylei John, a dual international studies and Spanish major from Salamanca, N.Y.

Parker Suddeth, Coordinator of the Damietta Center for Multicultural Student Affairs and member of the University Planning Commission Task Force on Community and Diversity.

Dr. Robin Valeri, Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department.

Dr. Megan Walsh, Assistant Professor of English.

The search is planned according to the following timeline:

• By March 15: Search firm is named
• By April 30: Campus listening sessions completed
• By June 30: Search launched publicly
• By Dec. 31, 2016: New president named
• July 2017: New president start date

“As the timeline indicates, our assumption is we will not have a president selected and in place by July 31, 2016, when Sr. Margaret retires,” explained Daugherty. “We are in the early stages of formulating a subcommittee of the Board to address this anticipated need for an interim president for the intervening academic year, and we are firm in our position that the interim president will not be considered a candidate for the presidency,” he said.

Additional information about the presidential search process is available at www.sbu.edu/pres-search where regular updates will be provided by co-chairs Meyer and Quick. The web page also includes a presidential search input form where interested parties can share ideas and questions directly with the board chair and committee co-chairs.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, we believe in the goodness of every person and in the ability of every person to do extraordinary things.  St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. Named the #5 best college value in the North by U.S. News and World Report, we are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.