After 10 years at Loyola, John Cornwell, assistant provost, will leave to assume the role of associate vice president for institutional advancement at Rice University in Houston.

“I’ll be sad to leave Loyola. I believe in its mission,” Cornwell said. He has worked at Loyola since Fall 1996. He started as a professor of psychology, and after five years became an assistant provost.

Cornwell said he would be sad to leave Loyola and that he will miss his friends and the faculty, but he is eager to go to Houston. “My partner has been in Houston since Hurricane Katrina, so I’m trying to get back,” he said.

Another reason for the departure was the position available at Rice University. “Such opportunities are rare. The job sounded exactly like what I’ve been developing here and was looking for,” he said.

According to Cornwell, it is difficult to find such positions in higher education. Rice University created the position of associate vice president for institutional advancement for him.

As assistant provost, Cornwell worked to develop a number of systems that track efficiency and effectiveness within the university. He also worked with retention, institutional research, space allocation, the Upward Bound program and a number of university committees.

Cornwell worked extensively on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reaccredidation process for Loyola.

“John has been tremendously valuable for this university. Getting us through the SACS accreditation was a difficult job. We owe a lot to him in that respect,” said Brenda Joyner, assistant provost.

No replacement has been chosen and a search committee hasn’t been formed at this time, according to Joyner. She said there will be talks about the search committee next week.

No one has been chosen to temporarily fill the vacancy after Cornwell’s departure on Feb. 28, Joyner said.

“He has been such a good manager that those areas that report to him will be self-sustaining,” said Joyner about Cornwell’s management. By the time of his departure a decision will have been made on what to do for the rest of this semester, she said.

Joyner highlighted Cornwell’s importance at Loyola: “After Hurricane Katrina … John was a tremendous resource and help in getting the university reopened. The effort he put forth was tremendous. We owe him a real debt of gratitude.

“We are truly going to miss him. He does a lot of things behind the scenes that people don’t realize and he will be missed,” Joyner said.

Tara Templeton can be reached at [email protected].