Robert Morris University says it will begin a national search to find a successor to president Gregory Dell’Omo, who announced Thursday he is leaving after the current academic year to become president of Rider University in New Jersey.
He begins his new job Aug. 1, having spent a decade on the Moon campus.
Rider has campuses in Lawrenceville and Princeton, N.J. For Mr. Dell’Omo, the move is a return to his home state that puts him closer to extended family, a factor officials said was significant in his decision.
“The Rider opportunity is an exciting one, but this was still a very difficult choice,” Mr. Dell’Omo said in a statement. “The progress and achievements that we’ve made over the past 10 years are gratifying for all of us, and I only see an upward trajectory continuing at RMU in the years to come.”
School officials cited growth at the 93-year-old institution under Mr. Dell’Omo, president since 2005. In a process that began before his arrival and continued during his tenure, Robert Morris has evolved from a commuter-based specialty business school to a comprehensive regional university.
While he was at Robert Morris, full-time undergraduate enrollment at the 5,400-student school grew by 35 percent to 3,968 as of this fall. The number of students living on campus grew, too, from 1,140 to 1,990.
Under Mr. Dell’Omo, the school completed a five-year strategic plan and capital campaign. The fund drive, finished in 2012, raised $41 million, surpassing its goal and funding structures housing the School of Business and the Wheatley Center, site of the School of Communications and Information Systems.
The campaign added 30 new endowed scholarships and supported a center focusing on achievement among African-American men, the university said. Robert Morris is also building a new site for its School of Nursing and Health Sciences. The school’s endowment grew by 60 percent to $33 million during Mr. Dell'Omo’s years in office
The school added online programs and housing and recorded NCAA Division I sporting successes, among them berths by the men’s and women’s basketball teams in the NCAA tournaments.
“Many colleges and universities have struggled these last several years, but Robert Morris has thrived, thanks, in great part, to Dr. Dell’Omo’s leadership and the hard work and tremendous support of our highly accomplished faculty and staff,” said Gary Claus, chairman of the school’s board of trustees.
First Published: December 4, 2014, 5:33 p.m.
Updated: December 5, 2014, 4:41 a.m.