Bradley University taps Joanne Glasser as first female president

PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley University on Tuesday introduced the top administrator at Eastern Kentucky as the first female president of the 110-year-old Peoria school.

Joanne Glasser, 56, becomes the 10th president of the 6,100-student university, succeeding David Broski.

Broski, who retired in June, earned more than $357,000 in salary and benefits during the 2004-2005 school year, about $127,000 more than the median for similar institutions. Gerald Shaheen, chairman of Bradley's board of trustees, declined to reveal Glasser's salary, calling that private.

"I'm so honored and so humbled," Glasser told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday, after 16,000-student Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky., publicly announced she had resigned there after six years at its helm. "Peoria is just awesome. I couldn't be happier."

Shaheen said Glasser, tapped by a 12-member search committee from a field of 60 applicants nationwide, fit the school's quest for "an individual of the highest character - a gifted administrator, skilled communicator and passionate advocate for students and faculty."

"We sought a leader who would continue Bradley's renaissance, bringing new ideas, new skills and new life to this campus," Shaheen said in a statement. Alluding to the school's founding by Lydia Moss Bradley, Shaheen added that Glasser had that "stature, vision and dedication that would have made Mrs. Bradley proud."

Glasser said she planned to assist Eastern Kentucky with its transition, then be in place at Bradley well before students return at the end of this month.

Before becoming Eastern Kentucky's president in 2001, Glasser was executive vice president and chief advancement officer at Towson University near Baltimore.

Glasser also was a finalist for president of Illinois State University in Normal in 2004.

A Maryland native, Glasser has a bachelor's degree in political science from George Washington University and a law degree from the University of Maryland. She also attended the Harvard University Graduate School of Education's Institute of Higher Education Management.