CHICAGO, May 2, 2017 – The Board of Trustees of North Park University has announced the formation of a broadly constituted committee that is charged with recommending to the board a successor to Dr. David L. Parkyn, who will retire as the university’s president on June 30, 2017.
As stated in the bylaws of the university, “the President of the University shall be the chief executive officer of the University, recommended by the Trustees, approved by the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) Board and called by the Annual Meeting of the ECC for an indefinite term.” Each year the Annual Meeting convenes in June, with 2018 the aim for filling this position.
“Possibly the most important job in which the North Park University Board of Trustees engages is recommending a president,” said Dr. Kristine Strand of Boston, Massachusetts, chair of the Board of Trustees. “We invite all who value North Park and its role in Christian higher education to join us in prayer for this process.”
The 15-person committee includes 9 members of the Board of Trustees, two of whom serve ex officio, and 6 members of the campus community – two students, three faculty members, and a representative of staff and administrative employees.
Board members include
- Owen R. Youngman, Deerfield, Illinois; committee chair; professor and chair in digital media strategy, Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University
- Kristine Strand, Boston, Massachusetts; chair of the North Park Board of Trustees (serving ex officio); associate professor (retired), department of speech, language, and hearing sciences, Boston University; senior speech-language pathologist and literacy specialist, Learning Disabilities Program, Department of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital
- Gary Walter, Palatine, Illinois; president of the Evangelical Covenant Church (serving ex officio)
- Peggy Bley, San Francisco, California; certified public accountant
- Rebekah Eklund, Baltimore, Maryland; assistant professor of theology, Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore
- D. Darrell Griffin, Chicago, Illinois; pastor, Oakdale Covenant Church
- David Helwig, Plymouth, California; president and West Region CEO (retired), WellPoint, Inc.
- Karen Meyer, Denver, Colorado; vice president, sales and partnerships, Welltok, Inc.
- David Otfinoski, Chester, Connecticut; president, Catamount Medical Information, LLC
Members of the campus community include
- Jonathan Peterson, University faculty; assistant professor of politics and government and chair of the North Park Faculty Senate
- Alyssa Anderson, University faculty; assistant professor of athletic training
- Elizabeth Pierre, Seminary faculty; assistant professor in both the Seminary and School of Professional Studies
- Angela Nevoso, president of the undergraduate Student Government Association
- Mackenzie Mahon, incoming president of the Seminary Student Association
- Roby Geevarghese, major gift officer in the Department of Development and Alumni Relations
“I am honored to lead this committee in its important task,” said Youngman. “This is a key moment both in North Park’s history and for its future. We are seeking a leader who will share our aspiration to see North Park become the nation’s leading city-centered Christian university, and who can lead its faculty, students, staff, and alumni to achieve that goal together.” Past searches that Youngman has chaired include those for the Evangelical Covenant Church’s executive director of communications; faculty at Northwestern’s Medill School; and the senior pastor at Libertyville (Illinois) Covenant Church.
The committee has established an email account where interested constituents can share recommendations, and ideas, and other thoughts about the University and about the search: PresidentialSearch@NorthPark.edu. Regular communications about its work will be published both online and offline. Committee members will also hold “town hall”-style meetings on campus over the balance of this calendar year. “We look forward to receiving broad input at all stages of the process as we move forward with God’s grace and guidance,” said Youngman.