Saint Vincent College appoints new president

Officials at Saint Vincent College said there was little question who should lead the Benedictine college into the future when Br. Norman W. Hipps announced his pending retirement as president this year.

J. Christopher Donahue, chairman of the Saint Vincent board of directors and president and CEO of Federated Investors Inc., said officials sent out 80 surveys to faculty, staff and stakeholders asking for their first recommendation for a new leader for the small private college located just outside of Latrobe.

“When they came back, 70 of them named Fr. (Paul R.) Taylor. The next highest name received five votes,” Donahue said.

Friday, college officials made it official: Taylor, 53, a Benedictine monk for 30 years and priest for 25 years, will take over the helm next month as the 18th president of the 173-year-old college that enrolled 1,676 undergraduate and 191 graduate students last fall.

Approximately 200 faculty members, alumni, board members and college staff gathered at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for the announcement and a luncheon marking the occasion.

Donahue touted Taylor’s role in expanding the recruitment of African American students and increasing minority enrollment from “5 or 6 students to about 200 students.” He also highlighted the new president’s success leading a fundraising campaign that over the last two years has raised $100 million to bolster the school’s endowment and underwrite scholarships and academic enhancements.

Taylor, who grew up in St. Marys, is the great-grandson of Straub’s Brewery founder Peter Straub. The clergyman who most recently served as executive vice president of Saint Vincent College said his family has been affiliated with the school for five generations. Peter Straub’s son, Gilbert Straub, was a priest at Saint Vincent and the founding pastor of St. Bruno’s Roman Catholic in South Greensburg, further cementing the families ties to Westmoreland County.

John Smetanka, vice president of academic affairs and dean of students at Saint Vincent, said Taylor’s appointment was met with cheers across the college community.

“Father Paul has spent a lifetime at Saint Vincent and he knows the institution from the inside,” Smetanka said.

Taylor said he’s proud to be part of the college that was cited last week in the New York Times for its high graduation rate — 88 percent graduate in six years. He saluted Joanne Rogers, widow of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood creator Fred Rogers. He said Saint Vincent and Harvard University are collaborating on further study of the work and writings of Fred Rogers at the Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent.

But more than anything, he said he’s humbled to be part of an institution that carries a commitment to changing the lives of students and giving them a foundation of belonging.

“We face ever-changing needs for our students and alumni. Making higher education affordable and preparing our graduates for successful careers and meaningful lives tops the list,” he said.

Former Saint Vincent College board member Tim Ryan, of Pittsburgh, said he came to know and respect Taylor when he worked with him as a board member.

“I think Father Paul is a fantastic choice,” Ryan said, following the announcement. “Brother Norman will be a hard act to follow, but Father Paul knows the community and has an understanding for the culture. He has the legitimate heartfelt respect of every stakeholder in the college and the community.”

Taylor, who earned a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics at Saint Vincent in 1987, graduated from Saint Vincent Seminary in 1991 with a master of divinity degree. He received a maters’ degree in mathematics from Duke University in 1993 and a doctorate in higher education from Boston College in 1998.

Hipps, who was named president of the college in 2010, said he plans to return to the classroom upon his retirement. Officials Friday bestowed the honorific “President Emeritus” on him, hailing the school’s growth and progress during his tenure as president.