SOBEHART RESIGNS AS STRITCH HEAD

By Michael Horne

Dr. Helen Sobehart, first lay President of Cardinal Stritch University, resigned her position today.

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Dr. Helen C. Sobehart, president of Cardinal Stritch University, announced her resignation today.

Her last day in office will be Dec. 31, 2009. The Stritch Board of Trustees will immediately address the issue of interim leadership.

“In the past year, I have had to make many difficult decisions, so typical of a major transition during very tough economic times,” said Dr. Sobehart. “While the Sisters of St. Francis, Board of Trustees, faculty, staff and I all share a common commitment to our Franciscan mission of transforming lives through value-centered education, there are different leaders for different times, and the time is right for new leadership. I am deeply grateful to all of the people mentioned above for their shared support and commitment as we all have worked to serve the group of which I am most proud – our students.

“In addition, I have had to face some serious personal challenges. My son, who is currently with us but away from his own family in Pittsburgh, is experiencing very sudden and severe health problems, and it is most important now to tend to my family. For both of these reasons, it is in the best interests of everyone that I step aside to provide a smooth path to new leadership.”

“The entire Cardinal Stritch University community thanks Dr. Sobehart for her hard work and leadership,” said David Hawke, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Her steadfast dedication to this University and its unique Franciscan identity and mission is to be commended. She truly understood and embraced what it means to be Franciscan, and that philosophy governed her every interaction. We understand her decision to step down, and we wish Dr. Sobehart, her husband Joe, and the rest of her family nothing but the best in the future.”

Dr. Sobehart became the sixth president of Cardinal Stritch University – and the first lay president in its history – in 2008. During Dr. Sobehart’s tenure, the University made significant advancements. Under her leadership, Stritch opened its new City Center campus earlier this year, a 24,000-square-foot facility located in the former Laboratory Building at The Brewery redevelopment project in downtown Milwaukee. The City Center establishes a major presence for Stritch in the heart of Milwaukee’s downtown business community, allowing the University to provide a significant enhancement to the educational opportunities available in the city and beyond.

In addition, the University saw a historic expansion of its traditional-age undergraduate population in the last year and a half, which necessitated the renovation of the Education Building on the main campus into a second residence hall for undergraduate students. The building, called Assisi Hall, houses more than 75 students.

Her community involvement has included the Leadership Cabinet of the United Way, the Milwaukee County Ethics Board, and the boards of the Public Policy Forum and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She also serves on the TEMPO Mentoring Committee, Homeless Children’s Fund of Pittsburgh, and the International Commonwealth Council for Education and Management. She has also been leading the Talent Dividend Initiative through the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

She received the Legacy Foundation’s Educator of the Year award this fall, and was honored by Milwaukee Achiever Literacy Services with a Legacy Award for her international work promoting access to basic education as a way for women and minorities to break down social barriers and attain community leadership roles. In 2008, she was the recipient of the American Association of School Administrators’ Dr. Effie Jones Humanitarian Award, a prestigious national honor that recognizes individual efforts related to the advocacy and support of women and minorities in education.

In addition to her local service, Dr. Sobehart chaired the second International Conference of the Women Leading Education Across Continents in September in Augsburg, Germany. Co-sponsored by Stritch, the American Association of School Administrators, the University Council for Education Administration’s Women’s Special Interest Group, and the University of Augsburg, the conference brought together educators from around the globe to examine the status of women in K-12 and higher educational leadership.

Dr. Sobehart is also a continuing chair of Women Leading Education Across the Continents, an international group of scholars who study and provide information about the status of women in educational leadership positions, both in basic and higher education. She edited a book, “Women Leading Education Across the Continents: Sharing the Spirit, Fanning the Flame,” that features her colleagues from numerous countries around the world.

A native of Pittsburgh, she began her career in 1969 as a special education teacher, going on to positions as a state administrator, special education director and assistant superintendent, ultimately retiring as superintendent of the Fox Chapel Area School District in suburban Pittsburgh. She was immediately selected after retirement to direct the doctoral program in educational leadership at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She later was promoted to associate provost and associate academic vice president prior to coming to Stritch.
Dr. Sobehart holds a doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University, a master of science degree from Duquesne University and a bachelor of arts degree from Slippery Rock University.