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USF president abruptly resigns after 10 years

Father Paul J. Fitzgerald announced his departure Monday to pursue "his next professional opportunities."

A smiling man wearing glasses and clerical attire with a white collar stands against a stone wall with plants in the background.
Father Paul J. Fitzgerald is stepping down as USF’s 28th president. | Source: Courtesy University of San Francisco

University of San Francisco President Paul J. Fitzgerald announced that he’s stepping down after a decade to pursue “his next professional opportunities.”

“Details on timing for this leadership transition are forthcoming,” the USF board of trustees wrote in a statement Monday, just a month into the school year.

A search for the Jesuit school’s 29th president is underway, the school leaders said. Also effective immediately are cabinet-level leadership changes to help with the transition.

USF trustees credited Fitzgerald with helping the school raise more than $300 million to expand the campus, renovate facilities, and develop a new strategic plan.

“I am very proud of all that we — faculty, librarians, staff, administrators, students, and alumni — have accomplished together,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “I am confident that USF has the people and the vision to enliven its distinctive mission, a mission that is perhaps more critical now than ever before. I am committed to doing everything possible to ensure a seamless transition into a new chapter of leadership for the university’s future.”