Following a national search, the Canisius College Board of Trustees has named John J. Hurley as the 24th president of the Jesuit university. Hurley, a 1978 alumnus who currently serves as the college's executive vice president and vice president for college relations, will be the first lay president in Canisius' 140-year history.

Hurley's appointment, which is subject to the execution of an employment contract, will be effective July 1, 2010. He will succeed the Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., who will retire after a highly-successful presidency spanning 17 years.

"John has made significant contributions to Canisius in his current roles," said Catherine M. Burzik '72, chair of the Board of Trustees and president and chief executive officer of Kinetics Concepts Inc, in San Antonio, TX. "He impressed the Board of Trustees with his vision, leadership, fund-raising success, and deep understanding and commitment to the Catholic, Jesuit mission. He is eminently well-qualified to lead Canisius through the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead."

"Canisius has had a stunning list of accomplishments in the last 16 years," said Hurley. "We have invested $142 million in our campus, we've made the transition to a predominantly residential college and we have a long list of contributions to our community. I look forward to working with the trustees, faculty, staff and students of the college to take Canisius to the next level of excellence in Catholic Jesuit education."

A native of Buffalo, Hurley graduated from St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore and received a bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude in English and history from Canisius College in 1978. He is one of six sons of Doris Y. and the late Paul B. Hurley to earn degrees from Canisius College. At Canisius, Hurley served as editor of the student newspaper, The Griffin, and was a founding member of the Albany-based Independent Student Coalition, a lobbying organization for students in independent schools in New York State for which he served a six-month term as executive director.

Upon graduation from Canisius, Hurley won a full fellowship to the Notre Dame Law School from which he earned a juris doctor degree in 1981. While at Notre Dame, he studied in the Notre Dame London Law Programme, was a director of the Law School's Legal Aid and Defender Association, and taught classes to inmates at Indiana's maximum security prison at Michigan City.

He served as an associate in the Chicago law firm of Keck, Mahin & Cate from 1981-1984 before returning to Buffalo in 1984 to take a position as an associate (1984-1988) and then partner (1989-1997) at Phillips, Lytle LLP. During his legal career, Hurley concentrated his practice in the areas of secured lending, bankruptcy and insolvency, creditors' rights and acquisitions of troubled companies. He served as a member of the governing committee of the firm and was inducted as a fellow in the College of Law Practice Management for his contributions to law firm management.

In 1997, Hurley accepted Father Cooke's offer to become the college's vice president for college relations and general counsel, and led the college to the successful conclusion of the $30 million Imagine Canisius fund-raising campaign. Since 1997, he has been the senior development and external relations officer responsibile for capital campaigns, planned and annual giving programs, grant services, all external and media relations, alumni relations and college publications. Under his tenure, the college has raised in excess of $116 million in total voluntary support. In 2007, Hurley was promoted to the position of executive vice president and took on the additional responsibilities for the coordination of the college's senior leadership team, strategic planning, integrated marketing, and legal and compliance issues.

In addition to his responsibilities at Canisius, Hurley serves as the appointee of Bishop Edward U. Kmiec to the board of directors of Fidelis Care New York, a health maintenance organization serving the poor in New York State and as a trustee of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He and his wife, Maureen, chair the Bishop's Council of the Laity for Bishop Kmiec. He is also the past chair of the Jesuit Advancement Administrators, a professional development organization representing development and public relations professionals in the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. He was a member of the city of Buffalo's Charter Revision Commission in 1997-98, and was chair and longtime board member of Housing Opportunities Made Equal, the Western New York fair housing organization.

Canisius honored Hurley in 1996 with the LaSalle Medal, the college's highest honor given to an alumnus for service to alma mater. In 2002, he was inducted as a Distinguished Alumnus of the college. He was also inducted as a member of the Signum Fidei Society of St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in 1998.

John Hurley is married to Maureen O'Connell Hurley, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Rich Products Corporation in Buffalo. They have three children: daughter Caroline, a junior majoring in communication studies at Canisius College; son Brian, a freshman majoring in finance at the University of Scranton, which is also a Jesuit university; and daughter Millie, an eighth grader at Nardin Academy.