Dennis Henry Holtschneider (born January 14, 1962) is president of the

Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) is a voluntary association of delegates from Catholic institutions of higher learning. History It was founded in 1899 by fifty-three delegates from Catholic colleges across the United ...

. Previously, he was the executive vice president and chief operations officer for

Ascension Health Ascension is one of the largest private healthcare systems in the United States, ranking second in the United States by number of hospitals as of 2019. It was founded as a nonprofit Catholic healthcare network in 1999. By the end of 2021, Asc ...

, serving from July 2017 through June 2019. Prior to this, he served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States, serving from July 2004 through June 2017.

Early life

A native of

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, he is a 1985 graduate of

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and has 3,300 undergraduate students in 50 academic programs. Appro ...

with a bachelor's degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. He is a member of the

Congregation of the Mission , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

, an order of Catholic priests founded by

St. Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...

and commonly referred to as

Vincentians Vincentian can refer to: *A citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A person from Saint Vincent (island), the largest island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A member of one of the orders or societies in the Vincentian Family, both Roman ...

. He received a doctorate in higher education administration from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1997.

Career

Holtschneider served as

executive vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

from 2000-04. He taught and served in several academic administrative roles at

St. John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) **St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus *College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and Col ...

between 1996 and 1999. Holtschneider was the director and rector of Vincentian College Seminary in Ozone Park, New York, from 1989 to 1992. Since 2008, he has been a faculty member in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, teaching seminars and institutes on strategy, governance and management development, among others. He taught summer institutes on strategic planning at the

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

Center for the Study of Church Management from 2006-10. He served also as clinical associate professor of higher education in the Graduate School of Education at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

Governance

Holtschneider has served in leadership roles on several national advocacy boards for higher education. He joined the

American Council on Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,700 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education ...

's board of directors in 2013, was a trustee for the

National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) located in Washington D.C.. It is an organization of private American colleges and universities. Founded in 1976, it has over 1,000 independent hig ...

in 2012-13, and was a trustee for the

from 2009 to 2015, including serving as chair of that board from 2010-2012. He spent five years as a member of the school board for Chicago Catholic Schools (2009-14) and nine years as a trustee of the

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...

(2007-2016).

Honors and affiliations

Holtschneider holds seven honorary degrees, the most recent of which was awarded in December 2016 from Soka University in Tokyo. In 2015, he received the

’s Council of Fellows Mentor Award, recognizing his guidance in preparing the next generation of academic leaders in higher education. In 2012, he was noted as one of ''Diversity MBA Magazine'''s "Top 100 under 50 Diverse Executive Leaders". In 2011, he was honored by the

Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago ( la, Archidiœcesis Chicagiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. It was established as a diocese in 1843 and ...

with its "Strangers No Longer Award" for his leadership on comprehensive immigration reform.

Publications

Holtschneider has conducted research and written extensively on higher education strategy and governance. ''Trusteeship Magazine'' published his article, "Strategic Capacity: Strengthening University Boards to Govern Strategy" in its November/December 2016 issue. His chapter on "Raising Academic Quality: A Playbook", appeared in Strategies for University Management in 2016. His chapter "Strategy" appeared in the 2015-16 Presidential Perspectives Higher Education Thought Leadership Series Innovative Concepts to Achieve Campus Transformation.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holtschneider, Dennis H. 1965 births American Roman Catholic priests Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Living people Niagara University alumni People from Chicago People from Detroit People from Niagara County, New York St. John's University (New York City) faculty American chief operating officers Catholics from New York (state) Catholics from Illinois Catholics from Michigan