Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn has retired as chair of the University of St. Thomas board of trustees.
His departure was announced during the board’s regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 17 and was effective Oct. 21. Archbishop Flynn served as board chair since 1995.
The board elected Michael Dougherty as interim chair, according to an Oct. 19 statement from UST. 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.
Archbishop Flynn’s retirement follows the resignation Oct. 4 of Father Kevin McDonough as the board’s vice chair. Father McDonough also has resigned from the advisory boards for the University of St. Thomas School of Law and the Center for Catholic Studies.
The St. Thomas board elected John Morrison, a St. Thomas trustee since 1996 and chairman of Central Bank Inc., as interim vice chair. The board expects to elect a permanent chair and vice chair at its Feb. 13 meeting, according to the UST statement.
St. Thomas has retained outside counsel to lead an independent investigation of matters related to clergy sexual abuse allegations that impact the university, it added.
The move comes after Father Michael Keating, a Catholic studies professor, took a voluntary leave of absence from the school following the filing of a civil lawsuit that alleges he had sexual contact with a teenage girl in the late 1990s and 2000.
St. Thomas said 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 Flynn, a St. Thomas trustee since 2006 and vice chair of the board’s executive committee. Flynn, no relation to the archbishop, is the retired chairman and CEO of KPMG.
