Southern Illinois University’s eighth President will be Randy Dunn. The school’s Board of Trustees made the announcement during a special meeting in Edwardsville, voting unanimously to approve Dunn’s contract.
SIU Board Chairman Randal Thomas says Dunn stood out among other candidates due to his ability to work both on a local, state and national level for the university.
“That was one of the questions we asked. ‘What experiences have you had in dealing with legislatures; federal government, state legislators, corporate and founders and contributors? How do you raise money, how have you been successful in the past, how do you see that applicable to Illinois?’ And his answers were spot on.”
Dunn is a former professor at SIU Carbondale, served as Illinois Superintendent of Schools, and currently serves as President of Youngstown State University in Ohio.
He’ll make $430,000 per year in the four year contract.
Monday night, Youngstown State announced Dunn’s resignation as President there would be effective August 16th. He was required to give 180 days’ notice before leaving the Ohio school.
Dunn will take over for retiring SIU President Glenn Poshard, who has served since 2006 as the system’s CEO. It’s unclear how SIU will fill an apparent gap between Poshard’s retirement, expected in June, and Dunn’s availability in August.