Former Syracuse University Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina has been named the next president of the University of Dayton.

Spina, who stepped down from his position as vice chancellor and provost of SU at the end of 2014, was selected unanimously by the University of Dayton’s Board of Trustees, according to a Dayton press release. His appointment follows former University of Dayton President Daniel Curran’s announcement that he will step down in June 2016.

“I have been tremendously impressed by the quality of the faculty, staff and students, and have felt from the beginning the strong and inclusive sense of community for which the University of Dayton is renowned,” Spina said in the release.

The University of Dayton is a private, Roman Catholic university in Dayton, Ohio. Spina said in the release that the mission of the university aligns with the personal values he learned from his parents and in 12 years of Catholic education.

“I have learned about the University’s Marianist values and the deep commitment to social justice and community engagement here,” Spina said in the release. “I found that these values are my values, these priorities are my priorities. In a way, I feel that I am coming home.”

When Spina announced the conclusion of his tenure in early December of last year, he said he had been contemplating the decision for a few years because his long-term goal was to obtain a university presidency, something he did on Tuesday. He returned to SU in the spring semester of 2015 as a Trustee Professor after stepping down as vice chancellor.

Spina earned a doctorate and master’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University, according to the release. He was the Douglas D. Danforth Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science prior to his appointment as vice chancellor.

“Eric has devoted more than 25 years of his life to Syracuse, as a teacher, as a dean, as vice chancellor and provost, and the University is a better place because of it,” SU Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a December release from the university.

Syverud appointed Liz Liddy, then the dean of the School of Information Studies, as interim vice chancellor and provost. Liddy has served in the role since Jan. 1.

Published on September 15, 2015 at 11:00 pm

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