Phila. University president resigns after 22 years

Capping 22 years as Philadelphia University president, James P. Gallagher announced his resignation yesterday pending the selection of a successor.

He cited a string of recent achievements at the 100-acre, 2,500-student East Falls campus, including a new, 72,000-square-foot student center.

"I've had a magnificent experience, great people, great students, but it's time to hand it over to a young, talented, energetic man or woman who can take it to the next level," the West Philadelphia-born academic said in an interview.

"You have to use your own intuition, and if your intuition tells you it's time to move on, I think you should do that."

Any successor should be happy to have the job, Gallagher said, because the "institution is in very good shape, both academically and financially."

Since its start in 1884, when it was known as the Philadelphia Textile School, the onetime trade school has been an important city institution. It was granted the right to award baccalaureate degrees in 1941, and in 1961 it changed its name to the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science. By 1999, the school was offering graduate and undergraduate degrees, so it again changed its name, becoming Philadelphia University.

One of the longest-serving college presidents in the country, Gallagher, 65, is also among the best compensated.

A survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education pegged his 2004-05 salary at $837,158, including deferred compensation. That put him second among presidents of private institutions in the United States that grant master's degrees.

In addition to leading the university through a period of growth during which applications increased fourfold, Gallagher serves gratis on the five-member School Reform Commission, which since 2002 has overseen Philadelphia's public schools.

In that capacity he has been an outspoken critic of the school district's chief executive, Paul Vallas.

Last month, when it was disclosed that the district was projecting a $140 million shortfall next year, Gallagher suggested that Vallas should pay for the deficit with his job.

It was a particularly biting turnaround because Gallagher had been chairman of the search committee that brought Vallas to Philadelphia.

"This is an untenable situation, and we must address it as soon as possible," Gallagher said. "It is clear that in order to move the school district forward and preserve the accomplishments that have been achieved to date, we should work to develop an amicable separation with Mr. Vallas."

Gallagher had previously called for Vallas' ouster, and in May pushed for a national search to replace him. Other board members, and a spokeswoman for Gov. Rendell, declined to support such a move, and Vallas declined to comment on Gallagher's attack.

Gallagher, who served as president of Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pa., and held senior positions at the American College in Bryn Mawr, St. Joseph's University, Georgetown University, Towson State University and the College of the Holy Cross, took the helm of Philadelphia U. in 1985. Before becoming university president, Gallagher served as Pennsylvania commissioner for higher education and chaired the Pennsylvania State Board of Education for nearly a decade.

A search committee to replace Gallagher will be led by university trustee Donald Redlinger, a former senior vice president for Honeywell International. Gallagher will stay on until a successor is named.