Iona College yesterday welcomed Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D. for his first official visit to the Iona campus since his appointment last month to become Iona’s eighth president. Dr. Nyre succeeds current president Brother James A. Liguori, who, after 17 years at Iona’s helm, will be stepping down at the end of May. Dr. Nyre will be the first lay president in the college’s 70-year history.
Dr. Nyre joins Iona from The Hope Institute for Children and Families in Springfield, IL, where he served as President and CEO. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Illinois College of Medicine, at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Iona serves an important role in our community as a center of learning, a planning anchor for the North Avenue corridor, and a major employer. Nonetheless, there are aspects of town-gown relations that are challenging, as in the case of the College’s proposal for a new dormitory on Mayflower Avenue.
I welcome Dr. Nyre to New Rochelle and look forward to working with him in order to better identify and pursue the common interests that link Iona to New Rochelle as a whole. In the same spirit, I wish Brother Liguori the best as he steps down and explores new personal opportunities.