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Tim Cloyd has led the university since 2016.
SBJ file
Tim Cloyd has led the university since 2016.

Drury president resigns abruptly

Posted online

Drury University on Thursday afternoon announced the sudden resignation of President Tim Cloyd.

Officials cited "family health concerns" in a news release. Cloyd's resignation is effective immediately.

“The board and I are so grateful for all that Dr. Cloyd has accomplished during his nearly six years at Drury,” said Rita Baron, chair of the Drury Board of Trustees, in the release.

The Drury board selected John Beuerlein as interim president. A financial analyst and philanthropist, Beuerlein is a nonvoting life trustee member at Drury after previously serving on the board 1991-2011.

“Fifty years ago, the education we received from Drury set us up for a lifetime of success. To be able to serve the university in this way and to be a daily part of this spirit of community, so passionate about student success, is the honor of a lifetime,” Beuerlein said in the release. “It’s a special bonus to be able to spend more time in my hometown closer to many friends and family members – it’s the icing on the cake for me. My job is to prepare our university for its next president.”

Cloyd started as Drury's leader in summer 2016, according to past reporting. Prior to that, he worked 2001-14 as president of Conway, Arkansas-based Hendrix College.

Cloyd's tenure at Drury has been marked by facility construction, among other initiatives. The university late last year unveiled its $27 million C.H. “Chub” O’Reilly Enterprise Center and Breech School of Business Administration and Judy Thompson Executive Conference Center, a 67,348-square-foot structure where classes started early this year. The O’Reilly Enterprise Center is the first capital project as part of Drury’s 25-year master plan, according to past reporting.

Cloyd also oversaw the launch of a new curriculum model called Your Drury Fusion, designed to fuse academic and professional learning by bucking traditional single majors in favor of a universal program with multidisciplinary certificates, according to past reporting.

“These achievements have helped to advance Drury and our mission of student success; for that, we thank Dr. Cloyd and wish him and his family all the best,” Baron said in the release.

Last month, Cloyd penned an open letter indicating Drury was eyeing $4 million cost reductions as the Springfield school deals with "post-pandemic fallout." The initiative, he said, would include fewer staff positions via employee attrition and unfilled vacancies, as well as the elimination of up to 10 positions.

"As many higher education institutions in our area and around the country are experiencing post-pandemic fallout, Drury University is not immune," Cloyd said in the letter. "In an abundance of caution, we are reevaluating the use of our resources and identifying ways in which we can be more efficient."

Drury had 396 faculty and staff and 2,146 students as of February.

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