During its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Oct. 17, the University of St. Thomas Board of Trustees accepted the retirement of the Most Reverend Harry Flynn as chair and member of the board, effective at the end of the day. Flynn served as board chair since 1995.
The board elected Michael Dougherty as interim chair. Dougherty, a St. Thomas trustee since 2003, also is chair of the board’s Executive Committee. He is chairman and chief executive officer of Dougherty Financial Group LLC in Minneapolis.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank Archbishop Flynn for his many years of dedicated service to the board and to the university,” Dougherty said.
As previously announced, Father Kevin McDonough resigned Oct. 4 as vice chair and member of the board. He had been a member since 1991. He also has resigned from three advisory boards at St. Thomas: for the School of Law, the Center for Catholic Studies and the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling.
The board elected John M. Morrison, a St. Thomas trustee since 1996, as interim vice chair. He is chairman of Central Bank Inc.
The St. Thomas board expects to elect a permanent chair and vice chair at its Feb. 13 meeting.
St. Thomas has retained outside counsel to lead an independent investigation of matters related to clergy sexual abuse allegations that impact the university.
The board is appointing a special committee to oversee the investigation and to review findings and recommendations. The committee also will confirm that the university has appropriate policies and procedures in place and that it takes appropriate follow-up action. The committee will be chaired by Timothy P. Flynn, a St. Thomas trustee since 2006 and also vice chair of the board’s Executive Committee. Flynn is the retired chairman and CEO of KPMG.
