Patricia O'Connell Killen Named Academic Vice President

Gonzaga News Service

SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga alumna Patricia O'Connell Killen, Ph.D., provost and dean of graduate studies at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., will become Gonzaga's academic vice president, effective July 1.

President Thayne McCulloh, Ph.D. said he is delighted to welcome Killen whom he described as "an experienced administrator and a well-respected professor and scholar" who will help lead Gonzaga to greater heights of academic excellence.

"Dr. Killen herself experienced the transformational gift of a Gonzaga University education, and as a result she thoroughly understands our mission and the importance Gonzaga places on effective teaching, advising, scholarship and citizenship," President McCulloh said.

Killen earned a bachelor's degree in religious studies from Gonzaga in 1974, and was honored by Gonzaga with the Distinguished Alumni Merit Award in 2007. She earned both a master's degree and doctorate in religious studies-American religious history from Stanford University. Before joining the PLU faculty in 1989, she taught at University of the South and Loyola University in Chicago.

"The invitation to become academic vice president at Gonzaga affords me the opportunity to contribute directly to the project of Jesuit higher education from which I have received so much," she said. "I look forward to collaborating with President McCulloh, the faculty, students, staff and other administrators in moving Gonzaga toward realizing its best aspirations."