SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Thayne M. McCulloh has been appointed president of Gonzaga University, becoming the first non-Jesuit to lead the school.
The Spokesman-Review reports board members promoted McCulloh from interim president to president Friday.
Gonzaga spokesman Dale Goodwin says the school’s bylaws prohibit the election of a lay president. But the board voted to suspend the bylaws after two years searching for a suitable candidate.
The 44-year-old McCulloh has been interim president for a year, taking over for Rev. Robert J. Spitzer.
McCulloh graduated from Gonzaga with a degree in psychology. He has a doctorate in social psychology from Oxford University.
