1968 graduate will be St. John's next president

Star Tribune

Last update: May 18, 2009 - 8:47 PM

Print this story

Follow local news on Twitter

Browse 2008 math and reading test results and performance penalties for all Minnesota public and charter schools.

More from Local + Metro

THE LATEST: The Board of Regents at St. John's University on Monday selected the Rev. Robert Koopmann, a 1968 St. John's graduate, to be the school's next president.

OTHER CANDIDATES: The other candidates to be the school's 12th president were the Rev. Timothy Backous and Dennis Beach.

Dan Whalen has been as interim president since Dietrich Reinhart resigned in October with health problems. Reinhart died two months later.

Koopmann takes over July 1. He has been a professor of music at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's since 1975, and he has served as fine arts division head since 2006.

For the past four years, he has served on St. John's Board of Regents, and he served nine years in a previous term on the board.

The native of Waterloo, Iowa, professed as a monk of St. John's Abbey in 1971 and was ordained a priest in 1981.

OTHER VOCATION: He is active as a concert pianist both in the United States and abroad. He has released a number of recordings since 1994 and is director of music for St. John's Abbey.

PAUL WALSH