Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient Richard A. Yanikoski, Ph.D.

Richard A. Yanikoski, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) in Washington, D.C., will deliver the 2010 Elms College commencement address.

The ACCU represents more than 90 percent of accredited Catholic institutions of higher learning in the United States, including the Elms. Its principal purpose is to promote and strengthen the mission and character of Catholic higher education in the United States, and to serve as its collective voice.

Dr. Yanikoski has worked for 35 years in Catholic higher education. Before joining ACCU in 2005, Dr. Yanikoski served as president of Saint Xavier University in Chicago for nine years. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, SXU is an independent Catholic university with more than 5,000 students.

Dr. Yanikoski had previously been an associate professor, director of the public services management graduate program, and founding director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University in Chicago, which advances the principles of effective land use, transportation, and community planning. DePaul is the top Catholic university in the United States by enrollment, with more than 25,000 students.

Dr. Yanikoski has published and lectured extensively on Catholic higher education, character development in higher education, and higher education pricing. Last year he delivered the commencement address at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Additionally, Dr. Yanikoski devotes his time and expertise to various community and educational boards. He serves on the board of directors of the National Catholic Education Association; the advisory board of the Boston College Institute for Administrators in Catholic Higher Education; and is a member of the Leadership Council of the Catholic Research Resources Alliance.

He serves as a consultant to the Committee on Catholic Education of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and on the accountability committee of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

After earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy at Stonehill College in Easton, a Catholic college founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Dr. Yanikoski went on to earn a Ph.D. in higher education at the University of Chicago.