Taylor President Announces Retirement Plans
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTaylor University President Eugene Habecker says he will retire after the 2015-2016 academic year. Under Habecker's leadership, Taylor built the Memorial Prayer Chapel, Euler Science Complex and the LaRita Boren Campus Center, which is scheduled to open next spring.
May 28, 2015
News Release
UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor University President Eugene B. Habecker, J.D. Ph.D., has announced that the upcoming 2015-16 academic year will be his final year as Taylor’s President.
“Marylou and I love Taylor University and its students, faculty, and staff,” said Habecker during a campus meeting this morning. “Service in this role, fully committed to helping prepare the next generation of global Christian leaders, has been and remains for us the highest of callings. We look forward to having an excellent year ahead as we wrap up a variety of projects and otherwise do everything we can to enable Taylor University to have its best years ever under the leadership of our successors.”
Wellington Y. Chiu, Ph.D., Chairman of Taylor’s Board of Trustees and a 1974 Taylor alumnus, said, “The board along with the entire Taylor University family are truly grateful for Gene and Marylou’s leadership at the University. Great passion, compassion, mission-focus, and excellence mark their servant-leadership at Taylor University. While we are saddened to see them leave, it is with deep appreciation that we anticipate and support their next calling.”
Habecker and his wife Marylou are both 1968 graduates of Taylor University. Prior to his appointment as Taylor’s 30th president in 2005, he served the presidencies of the American Bible Society and Huntington University. Under his leadership Taylor University has accomplished much of its long-range strategic plan under Vision 2016. Chiu cited a number of achievements during Habecker’s tenure, including:
– Raising $180 million for operating, endowment, and capital projects;
– Construction of major campus facilities, including the Memorial Prayer Chapel, Euler Science Complex, and the LaRita Boren Campus Center, which is slated for opening next spring;
– Enhanced student living spaces with the construction of the Campbell and Wolgemuth apartment complexes and Breuninger residence hall;
– Major upgrades to Taylor’s athletic and physical education facilities that include construction of the Eichling Aquatics Wing of the Kesler Student Activities Center, a combined football and soccer stadium and lighted practice facility, and refurbished Odle Arena, Winterholter Field (baseball) and Gudakunst Field (softball);
– Establishment of the Spencer Centre for Global Engagement, Center for Scripture Engagement, Bedi Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, Center for the Study of CS Lewis and Friends, and Center for Missions Computing;
– Establishment of international centers, study programs and/or exchange programs with institutions in China, Ecuador, Ireland, Liberia, and South Korea;
– Comprehensive campus beautification and landscaping initiatives;
– Creation of a Strategic Directions 2026 document outlining future goals for the university;
– Eight straight years during which Taylor University has been ranked the number one Midwest University in the category “Best Regional Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report survey of “America's Best Colleges.”
“Details regarding the Board’s process of searching for the next president will be made available within the next few weeks,” said Dr. Chiu and Mark D. Taylor, Chairman of the Presidential Search Committee and past Chairman of the Taylor University Board of Trustees.