Richard Englert Named Temple University’s New President

It’s​ ​official.​ ​Congrats,​ ​President​ ​Englert! https://t.co/QNJEvPx9Hh

— Temple University (@TempleUniv) October 12, 2016

Richard Englert officially became Temple University’s president yesterday after serving as acting president for almost three months.

Englert stepped in to the role on July 21st, after former president Neil Theobald hesitantly agreed to resign following pressure from board members amid a $22 million shortfall in the university’s financial aid budget and the sudden and controversial dismissal of Temple’s provost, Hai-Lung Dai.

University officials made the decision at a board of trustees meeting yesterday.

“President Englert has devoted his life to Temple University,” board of trustees chair Patrick J. O’Connor said in a university statement. ”Over the course of his 40-year career at Temple, he has earned a reputation as an outstanding teacher, administrator and leader.”

Englert, 70, had previously served as interim president for several months in 2012, following the resignation of president Ann Weaver Hart. He’s worked at Temple since 1976 in several roles, including vice president for administration, dean of the College of Education, provost, and president’s chief of staff.

”I am deeply honored by the decision of the Board of Trustees and their display of confidence,” Englert said in a statement. ”Temple University is an amazing institution of higher education with tremendous momentum. We are going to keep that forward movement alive in the coming months and years.”

Englert, who will make $625,000 a year in the position, likely won’t hold it for long, however. His appointment will instead provide the board of trustees an opportunity to ”design and implement a deliberate and thoughtful process in the search for a successor,” O’Connor said in a statement. Englert has asked not to be a candidate in that search.

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