The Rider University Board of Trustees has named John R. Loyack to become the college’s eighth president since its founding in 1865, following a nationwide search to replace Rider University President Gregory Dell’Omo.
Loyack will officially assume office on July 7, overlapping Dell’Omo’s July 31 retirement date. Dell’Omo has served as Rider University’s president since 2015. His retirement wraps up a 20-year career as a university president that includes a 10-year stint as president of Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.
Loyack is coming to Rider University from Alvernia University in Reading, Pa., where he served as its president for five years. It enrolls about 2,500 students, including graduate students.
Rider University enrolls about 4,000 students, including graduate students.
While at Alvernia University, Loyack launched new academic programs in high-demand fields and led a $60 million fundraising campaign. Enrollment also increased under his tenure.
Joan C. Mazzotti, who chairs Rider University’s Board of Trustees, described Loyack as a transformative, mission-driven leader with a record of innovation, strategic growth and who is dedicated to student success.
“As higher education is facing profound challenges today, we believe that his proven ability to navigate complexity, inspire community and champion innovation will guide Rider forward and ensure its ability to thrive,” Mazzotti said.
Prior to becoming president of Alvernia University, Loyack was the executive vice president for business and administration at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He is a graduate of King’s College.
Loyack helped to grow King’s College by developing new academic programs. He also implemented financial and strategic reforms to bring King’s College back to financial solvency. The school enrolls nearly 2,000 students, including graduate students.
Loyack’s professional background includes more than 15 years of executive experience in the energy, manufacturing and nonprofit sectors. He is a certified public accountant.
Loyack said he became interested in higher education when he interviewed for a seat on the King’s College Board of Trustees. The college was undergoing severe financial difficulties and he sought to help turn it around. He wanted to preserve the place that gave him his start.
“I started, like many students at Rider, as a first-generation college student,” he said. “It paved the way for a career and things that I have done that I could never have done without King’s College and getting that undergraduate degree.”
Loyack went on to earn a master’s degree in business administration from Lehigh University.
“I am deeply honored to be joining the Rider University family,” he said. “Rider has a strong legacy of educational excellence, engaged student learning and regional impact.”
Loyack said he is looking forward to working with students, staff, faculty and alumni and the Board of Trustees to advance Rider’s legacy and shape an even more vibrant and successful future.
Meanwhile, under Dell’Omo’s tenure as president, Rider University introduced a new strategic plan, undertook major campus renovations and also added new programs.
Dell’Omo also helped to raise millions of dollars to support those improvements, as well as student scholarships. The school’s endowment also grew over the 10-year period that he was president.
