Tyson elected Holy Cross provincial superior

Author: Margaret Fosmoe

SOUTH BEND — The Rev. David T. Tyson was elected Friday as the new provincial superior of the Indiana Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross.p. Tyson, 55, a former vice president at the University of Notre Dame, has served as president of the University of Portland, in Portland, Ore., since 1990.p. He will succeed the Rev. William Dorwart, who has served as provincial superior since 1997.p. Tyson was elected Friday by delegates of the provincial chapter during a meeting in Portland.p. The Indiana Province is based in South Bend. Tyson is expected to relocate to South Bend and assume his new position no earlier than Aug. 1, according to Veronica Locsmondy, a spokeswoman for the order.p. As provincial superior, Tyson will direct the work of more than 300 fellow priests and brothers around the world. The provincial superior of a religious order is charged with the spiritual and corporeal welfare of his fellow priests, and is responsible for the health and operation of his province. He also represents his colleagues with fellow provincials, the order’s superior general in Rome, Catholic bishops, cardinals and the pope.p. Tyson also is expected to play a role in the selection of the next president of Notre Dame.p. The Rev. Edward A. Malloy, Notre Dame’s current president, is expected to retire when his current term expires in 2005.p. The Notre Dame president is elected by the university’s board of trustees, after receiving recommendations made by the board’s governance and nominating committee. That committee is required to request a recommendation for the president’s job from the provincial of the Indiana Province.p. Notre Dame’s president must be a priest and a member of the Indiana Province of the Holy Cross order.p. Tyson himself was one of the top candidates for Notre Dame’s presidency when Malloy was selected in 1987. Malloy succeeded the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, who was Notre Dame’s president for 35 years.p. Tyson remains a possible candidate for the Notre Dame presidency.p. Tyson is a native of Gary. He professed his final vows in the Congregation of Holy Cross on March 8, 1974. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 5, 1975, in Sacred Heart Basilica.p. He earned two degrees at Notre Dame: a bachelor’s degree in 1970 and a master’s degree in 1974. Tyson earned a doctoral degree in philosophy from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1980.p. At Notre Dame, Tyson served as an associate professor of management, served in the admissions office and was vice president of student affairs and executive assistant to the president during Hesburgh’s administration. Tyson remains a member of Notre Dame’s board of trustees. p. The University of Portland, like Notre Dame, is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross.p. Under Tyson’s leadership, Portland has doubled its endowment and applicant pool, conducted the most successful fundraising campaign in Oregon private college history, established five new faculty chairs, built six new halls, earned an NCAA Division I national championship in soccer and has become one of the top five Western regional universities in the United States in the U.S. News&World Report rankings, according to a news release from the religious order.p. The Board of Regents of the University of Portland will conduct a national search for a successor to Tyson. Brother Donald Stabrowski, Portland’s provost, will serve as acting president until a successor is named.p. Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe: mfosmoe@sbtinfo.comp. (574) 235-6329p. p. June 21, 2003

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