Former Pa. Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley will become interim president of Rosemont College

Former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley will become interim president of Rosemont College later this month.

He will replace Jayson Boyers, who has led the small Catholic college in Lower Merion Township for only two years and is leaving for a new position, the college announced.

Cawley, a former Temple University and United Way executive, had been one of four finalists for the job when Boyers was hired in 2020 and removed himself from consideration for family reasons, the college said.

“The search committee and trustees were impressed with his experience and credentials, and disappointed that he removed himself from consideration at the time ...,” said Maria Feeley, chair of Rosemont’s board of trustees and chief legal officer and general counsel at Washington and Lee University. “Jim’s commitment to public service, his Catholic faith, extensive executive experience, deep ties to the community, and the partnerships he’s forged with prominent Philadelphia higher education institutions made him an excellent candidate to lead the college and we’re thrilled that he is willing to serve.”

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Asked whether the college would launch a search for a permanent replacement for Boyers, Feeley said, “The board of trustees is considering all available options.

“We have a clear vision of what we’re looking for in a new leader, most importantly a commitment to Catholic values and an appreciation of Rosemont’s mission — especially a deep-seated belief in the impact and value of education on individuals and communities,” she said. “We are grateful that our interim president ... epitomizes this vision.”

Boyers is heading to the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he will be managing director of a new division, RIT Certified, that is focused on professional education and workforce training. He starts in September.

He said Rosemont is a wonderful institution, and he loved his time there.

“This position,” he said of his new job, “allows me to work out of my home” in Sarasota, Fla.

Boyers began his tenure at Rosemont several months into the pandemic, coming from Cleary University, a business school in Michigan, where he had served as president.

Cawley was lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2015 under Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and afterward joined the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey in February 2015 as its CEO. He led the United Way for two-and-a-half years before joining Temple.

» READ MORE: Former Pa. lieutenant governor to be Temple's chief fund-raiser

At Temple, he was vice president of institutional advancement — essentially the chief fund-raiser, where he helped bring in more than $360 million over four fiscal years and led a staff of 140 employees. Last August, Cawley and several other high-level administrators at Temple were replaced by new president Jason Wingard.

Cawley, a native of Levittown and a lawyer, previously was chief of staff to state Sen. Robert M. “Tommy” Tomlinson (R., Bucks) and before that volunteered on Frank L. Rizzo’s 1987 Philadelphia mayoral campaign and former Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker’s 1994 campaign. He also has held other political appointments, including serving on the Bucks County Board of Commissioners and as a member of the Bristol Township School District board. He also has been on the boards of Temple, Bucks County Community College, and Manor College.

A graduate of the former Bishop Egan High School in Fairless Hills, he received both his bachelor’s degree in political science and law degree from Temple.

Cawley takes over at Rosemont, which enrolls about 350 undergraduates and 515 graduate students, on June 21.

“As a product of Catholic education and a lifelong resident of the Greater Philadelphia area, I’m intimately familiar with and committed to the unique mission and traditions of Rosemont,” Cawley said in a statement. “I look forward to shaping the bright future of this storied institution by working closely with the board of trustees, the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the entire Rosemont College community.”