JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville University has selected Tim Cost as the school's next president.
The JU Board of Trustees made the announcement Friday.
Cost, a 1981 JU alumni, is a consultant for PepsiCo whose most recent position with the company was executive vice president.
He will take the post effective July 1, 2013, replacing JU President Kerry Romesburg, who has announced his retirement after a 45-year higher education career.
A news conference introducing Cost will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, at Terry Concert Hall on the JU Campus.
"Working closely with the faculty and staff at the University, it will be an honor to serve," Cost said. "Our objective is clear: to constantly improve the student experience and enhance our students' success."
Cost, a Trustee since 2009, has chaired JU committees on enrollment, retention and development. In addition to his PepsiCo background, he brings more than 30 years' senior executive experience at top companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kodak, ARAMARK, Wyeth and Pharmacia.
A 1981 JU graduate who also earned an MBA from the William E. Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester, he was given the Jacksonville University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006 and also selected as a Distinguished Dolphin to help celebrate Jacksonville University's 75th anniversary.
As a JU athlete and four-year letterman on the baseball team, he is one of the top 10 winningest pitchers in JU Baseball history, and as a freshman, pitched the only nine-inning no-hitter in Jacksonville University history.
