James M. Danko is an American entrepreneur and academic administrator serving as the 21st president of

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

in Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Early life and career

Danko grew up in

Parma, Ohio Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, located on the southern edge of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 81,146. Parma is the seventh largest city in the state of Ohio, the largest suburb in the state, an ...

, a suburb of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. He started his first business, a medical and fitness equipment company, when he was 19, simultaneously earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies from

John Carroll University John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3 ...

. He ran his company for 17 years and it became the largest fitness equipment company in Ohio at the time. Danko sold his company in 1990 and earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Career

He went on to serve in business school leadership roles at institutions including the University of Michigan, the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

Tuck School of Business The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Founded ...

, and Villanova School of Business. He was appointed dean of the Villanova School of Business in 2005. During his tenure there, VSB moved from an unranked, regional college to a nationally-ranked American business school.

Butler University

Danko became the president of Butler University in November 2011. During his tenure, the university has reported a significant increase in the number of applicants and financial support, and has received several high regional and national rankings. In interviews, Danko has talked of plans to expand the university's reputation and student population, and in 2013, he moved to enter Butler in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

. Danko also became Vice-Chair of the Big East Board of Directors, and currently represents them on the NCAA Division I Presidential Forum.

Personal life

Danko and his wife Bethanie currently reside on the Butler University campus.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American university and college faculty deans John Carroll University alumni People from Cleveland Ross School of Business alumni {{US-academic-administrator-stub