Release Date: January 25, 2005

President and Mrs. Richard F. Giese

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Monmouth College President Richard F. Giese announced Tuesday that he will resign his current position to assume the presidency at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio.

His resignation will take effect on June 30, and he will start his new position on July 1.

“The board of trustees has been thrilled with the accomplishments made during the past eight years under Dr. Giese’s leadership,” said board chairman David Bowers. “This has been a period of growth in all areas of the college. Dick and Sandy Giese have left a mark on Monmouth College during eight years as our first family and they will always be a part of us.”

Giese noted that the decision was not an easy one but that, in the end, it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

“Last spring, Sandy and I came to the conclusion that we were going to plan to stay at Monmouth for the rest of my presidential career,” Giese wrote in a letter to the campus community. “We remained steadfast in that decision even as various opportunities to move to other colleges availed themselves.

“Recently, however, a unique offer to return as President of Mount Union College was presented. … This was not merely going to another college, but was, in many ways, a chance to go home to another college that I dearly love and a community where we raised our family and spent a large portion of our lives. After much thought and prayerful consideration, we have decided to accept this offer.”

Giese was inaugurated as Monmouth’s 12th president in 1997 after making the move from Mount Union, where he had served for 19 years as a faculty member, administrator and vice president. Under his leadership, Monmouth has experienced unprecedented success in fund raising, enrollment growth, campus expansion and curriculum reform.

The $22 million Huff Athletic Center and Bowers Hall, a $6 million apartment-style residence hall, have been constructed during Giese’s presidency, while four other facilities – Hewes Library, Dahl Chapel & Auditorium, the Mellinger Teaching and Learning Center and Founders Village – have been completely renovated at a total cost of approximately $12 million.

A new $6.4 million residence hall, which will open next fall, is currently under construction, and the college has also added Peacock Memorial Athletic Park and the MC Tennis Stadium to its athletic venues at a cost of just under $3 million. The 15-acre LeSuer Nature Preserve has been developed and student parking has been expanded.

Most of the physical improvements came about as a result of the ongoing “Toward a New Horizon” capital campaign, which is already the largest and most successful campaign in the college’s history. Giese also launched a campus beautification project that has enhanced the overall aesthetics of Monmouth College, with improved lighting, landscaping and signage.

Another major achievement from Giese’s presidency has come in the area of enrollment. At the time of his first day in office, Monmouth had not had 1,000 students on campus for a quarter of a century, but the college reached that level in the first year of his tenure and has continued to grow. The enrollment figure for the opening of the 2004-05 school year was 1,252 students.

Improving the residential nature of the campus and increasing enrollment were two of the five initiatives that Giese set forth early in his presidency. He also experienced great success in the other areas, which included developing a curriculum for the future, improving the college’s fiscal strength and enhancing Monmouth’s national reputation and visibility.

Following a three-year curriculum review, which was funded by a grant from the Teagle Foundation of New York, Giese and the faculty committee developed a model curriculum for other small private colleges. It received overwhelming faculty support and will begin in the fall. Already, new majors such as biochemistry and management information systems have been added to help MC students compete in today’s ever-changing world.

Monmouth’s endowment has grown substantially during Giese’s presidency, increasing by nearly $20 million, and the college has risen in the rankings of national liberal arts colleges.

The plan that President Giese put in motion several years ago has come together well, and Bowers said that is advantageous for Monmouth College as it prepares to begin its search for a new leader.

“Following our winter board retreat scheduled for next week, we expect to announce the formation of a search committee, which will aggressively begin the process of securing our next president,” concluded Bowers. “We have never been in a better position to search for new leadership.”

Released by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330