NAME: James McCormick
EMAIL: james.mccormick@so.mnscu.edu
TITLE: Chancellor
ORGANIZATION: MN State Colleges & Universities

ASSISTANT:

Thompson, Colleen A. Executive Assistant to the Chancellor 651-296-7971 colleen.thompson@so.mnscu.edu

Alternate:

Murphy, Michael 651-282-5516 michael.murphy@so.mnscu.edu

James H. McCormick was named chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges
Universities System in December 2000 by the Board of Trustees and began
his term in July 2001 as leader of the system of 32 higher education
institutions.

As chancellor, Dr. McCormick is responsible to the 15-member Board of
Trustees for the administration of all facets of the system. With seven
state universities and 25 two-year colleges on 53 campuses across the
state, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System serves about
240,000 students in credit courses each year. Employing more than 16,000
full- and part-time faculty and staff, the system has an annual budget
of about $1.4 billion.

Before coming to Minnesota, Dr. McCormick served as the founding
chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, created
July 1, 1983. The state system comprises 14 universities with a $1
billion budget. He left that position as the most senior system head in
the country, having served continuously as the Pennsylvania public
university system chief executive for 18 years.

Dr. McCormick was president of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
from 1973 to 1983, and served as a professor and administrator for
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania for the previous eight years.
Prior to this, he worked as an assistant superintendent, high school
administrator and teacher in Pennsylvania public schools. He is a native
of Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

Dr. McCormick is chair of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact and
serves as a rotating chair of the Higher Education Advisory Council for
the Higher Education Services Office in Minnesota. He founded and now
chairs the Minnesota P-16 Partnership. Dr. McCormick maintains several
professional memberships and has held leadership roles with numerous
organizations, among them the American Association of State Colleges and
Universities for which he has been the state representative, served as
chair of the Committee on Policies and Purposes, worked with the Federal
Relations Committee, and currently serves on the International Programs
Committee. He also is a commissioner for the AASCU, National Association
of System Heads, and The Education Trust study on graduation rate
outcomes. Dr. McCormick is a member of the Executive Committee for the
State Higher Education Executive Officers, serves as chair of the
organization's Academic Policy Committee and works with the
Accountability and Nominating Committees, as well. Dr. McCormick also
serves with the Commission on Government and Public Affairs for the
American Council on Education. A past president of the National
Association of System Heads, he now serves on the organization's
executive committee.

McCormick was a former president and member of the board of directors
for the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities. He is a
board member with the National Center for the Study of Sport in Society
and holds membership in the Pennsylvania Black Conference on Higher
Education, the American Association for Affirmative Action, the American
Association of Higher Education, the American Association of University
Administrators, the Pennsylvania Educational Policy Seminar, Phi Delta
Kappa, and Kappa Delta Pi.

Academic, professional, and community recognitions have been frequent.
McCormick House at the Dixon University Center, Harrisburg, Pa., was so
named by the State System Board of Governors in 1994. Similarly, the
Bloomsburg University Council of Trustees named the university's Human
Services Center in McCormick's honor. He also carries the title
President Emeritus for Bloomsburg University. Chancellor McCormick is
the recipient of several awards, including the Outstanding Alumnus Award
from the University of Pittsburgh and from Indiana University of
Pennsylvania. In 1992, the Pennsylvania State Education Association
selected him recipient of the Adler Award for outstanding contributions
to education. And, in 1993 the American Association of University
Administrators named Chancellor McCormick recipient of its Eileen Tosney
Award for outstanding leadership. The Pennsylvania Association of
Councils of Trustees recognized Chancellor McCormick with the
organization's 1998 Distinguished Service Award. In April 2000, his
leadership was commended by the Systemwide Board of Student Government
Presidents and in 1999 by the College and University Public Relations
Association of Pennsylvania. Also in 1999, both Bloomsburg and Lock
Haven Universities of Pennsylvania recognized the chancellor, the former
for leadership acumen and appreciation for the presidential years
served, and the latter a System Service award presented by the alumni
association. The chancellor was cited for a "model" leadership style in
the 1992 AASCU publication, Shared Visions of Public Higher Education
Governance. In 2001 the Pennsylvania School Boards Association awarded
Chancellor McCormick with the association's Leadership Award for
Commitment to K-16 Education in Pennsylvania.

In 1993, Chancellor McCormick was asked to join the teaching team for
the Presidential Lecture series at Kuwait University. He also was
selected by President Bill Clinton to participate with the Pennsylvania
team for CIVITAS @ Prague, a 1995 international conference of
government, education, and business leaders devoted to strengthening
citizenship and civic education worldwide. The Newcomen Society of the
United States honored the State System of Higher Education in 1997,
recognizing then governing board Chairman F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. and
Chancellor McCormick for their leadership.

Upon departure from the Pennsylvania state system, Dr. McCormick was
recipient of numerous awards, recognitions and resolutions. Among those
accolades were those from the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of
Trustees, Board of Student Government Presidents, Association of
Pennsylvania State Colleges and University Faculties, Latino Leadership
Conference, Pennsylvania Council of Alumni Associations, Black
Conference on Higher Education, Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and
Universities, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, numerous
university councils of trustees, the Tuition Account Program of the
state treasurer, and the city of Harrisburg. Then-Governor Tom Ridge
recognized McCormick's years of service by personally hosting a
retirement celebration in his honor.

Chancellor McCormick is a graduate of Indiana University of
Pennsylvania. He earned master's and doctoral degrees from the
University of Pittsburgh. Further post-doctoral and study have been
completed at Columbia University, the University of Michigan and the
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He has sought
and entered into several industrial and business site internships, and
in conjunction with AASCU leadership, has studied state owned higher
education institutions across the country.

Most recently, Chancellor McCormick was named to the Board of Trustees
for the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. He is active in the
St. Paul Rotary, and in July 2002, the Ojibwe of the Fond du Lac
Reservation in Cloquet, Minnesota, honored McCormick with the giving of
an Indian name, White Wolf.

Chancellor McCormick and his wife, Dr. Maryan G. McCormick, are the
parents of two adult sons, David Harold (spouse Amy Richardson); Douglas
Paul (spouse Michele); the McCormicks have five grandchildren, Michael
James, Kelly, Elizabeth Cora, Tess and Ava.