St. John's University president resigns

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. -- St. John's University President Brother Dietrich Reinhart today announced that he is resigning.

The announcement comes just two days after university leaders said they were assembling a committee to find an acting leader while Reinhart battles cancer.

In a letter dated Thursday, Reinhart told St. John's University Board of Regents Chairman Jim Frey that the melanoma that has been found in his lungs and brain and his need to focus on these "newly critical issues of my health and well-being" prompted the resignation.

"It is time for St. John's University to seek new leadership," he wrote. "It has been an honor to serve as the president of St. John's."

Reinhart has led the university since 1991.

"We deeply regret the sudden conclusion of his service, but we give our full and hearty support to Brother Dietrich in his decision," Frey said in a statement release by the university.

Reinhart's resignation will take effect once the St. John's finds an interim president, the university said. On Tuesday, the goal was to have someone by November. Once an interim president is found, the board will start the search for the next president.

The St. John's board also announced today that Reinhart would lead the newly established Benedictine Institute at St. John's as the first holder of an endowed chair. Reinhart will serve as his treatment and health allows.

In the 18 years Reinhart has led the university, enrollment has grown 14 percent to 1,897 in 2008. Its endowment has gone from $36 million to more than $145 million, among other projects.

Reinhart graduated from St. John's University in 1971. He became a monk of St. John's Abbey in 1972 and was a dean and professor of European history at the university. He holds a master's and a doctorate from Brown University.

"I have benefitted so much from living and working with this monk who has such an amazing ability to move between the big picture and critical details, between the wild and crazy idea and the needs of the day," Chancellor Abbot John Klassen said.

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