DEPAUL — DePaul University will name its new president Thursday.
Without releasing the person's name, the university put out a release Monday saying the 12th president in its history will be introduced to students, faculty and staff at 9 a.m. Thursday in Room 120 of the Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave.
The current president, the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, announced last year he'd be leaving the university at the end of the 2016-17 school year. Last month it was announced that he'd be joining Ascension Health Care.
Holtschneider's 13-year tenure was marked by growth at DePaul, including the creation of two new colleges: communication and science and health. But he was also recently embroiled in controversies over free speech on campus and the new DePaul arena at McCormick Place.
Since June, the university has conducted what it's called "a comprehensive national search" to replace Holtschneider, led by Jim Ryan, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees.
More recently, Ryan said the board was looking for "a proven academic leader, strategic thinker and visionary who is unfazed by DePaul's size and complexity," adding they were seeking "the best possible candidate" and not necessarily someone affiliated with the Catholic Church or the Vincentian order.
A university source said, "There's been a tight seal on all this," calling it a "very hush-hush selection process."
