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Collegeville, Minn.

St. John's University names new president

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New St. John's president
The Rev. Robert Koopmann, a 1968 graduate of Saint John's University, has been named the 12th president of St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn.
Photo courtesy of St. John's University

The Rev. Robert Koopmann has been named the 12th president of St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., by the university's Board of Regents. He will begin his official duties on July 1, 2009.

Koopmann succeeds Dan Whalen, who has served as interim president of the university since Oct. 21, 2008, after the resignation of Dietrich Reinhart as president due to health reasons. Reinhart died a few months later.

"I'm honored and excited to be selected president," said Koopmann. "St. John's has wonderful students, a first-rate faculty, a dedicated and highly competent staff, very committed board members, alumni, benefactors and friends, an amazing and creative partnership with the College of Saint Benedict, and a mission, together with St. John's Abbey, to serve the church and the world. I am eager to lead this institution which I love so much."

Koopmann, a 1968 graduate of St. John's, has been a professor of music at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's since 1975, and served as fine arts division head from 2006-09.

For the past four years, he has served on the St. John's Board of Regents, and served nine years in a previous term on the board.

Koopmann is active as a concert pianist both in the U.S. and abroad, and has released a number of recordings since 1994. He is the director of music for St. John's Abbey.

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New St. John's president
The Rev. Robert Koopmann, a 1968 graduate of Saint John's University, has been named the 12th president of St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn.
Photo courtesy of St. John's University