Pasco college names new leader, its third in seven years

St. Leo University in Pasco County, one of the largest Catholic universities in the country, has named longtime higher education leader Jim Burkee president. 

Burkee becomes the school’s 12th president — and the third in the past seven years. He starts Sept. 1, according to a statement.

Burkee replaces Edward Dadez, a 25-year veteran of the school named president in July 2022. Dadez retired in February; James DeTuccio, the school’s CFO and vice president of business affairs, served as interim COO while the board conducted a search for the next president.

Dadez was named president after the resignation of previous president Jeffrey Senese, who oversaw the college from 2018 to 2022. At the time of Senese’s resignation, St. Leo officials declined to provide any details as to why he left the school. According to his LinkedIn profile, Senese is now president of Caldwell University, a Catholic school in Caldwell, New Jersey, outside New York City.

Burkee, meanwhile, comes to St. Leo after serving as president of Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri. During Burkee’s three years as president at Avila, according to a statement, “he tripled the university’s student enrollment, strengthened its academic offerings through partnerships, raised more than $34 million in philanthropic support and grew its Catholic partnerships and outreach.” 

Prior to Avila University, Burkee held leadership positions with the College of Mount Saint Vincent (NY) and Concordia College New York. His career in higher education began as a professor of history at Concordia College New York and Concordia University Wisconsin and he earned doctoral and master’s degrees from Northwestern University and two bachelor’s degrees from Concordia University Wisconsin. He is a first-generation college student who grew up in a working-class family in Wisconsin, St. Leo says in the release. 

“Jim Burkee’s unique background and past accomplishments made him the absolute best candidate to ensure Saint Leo’s future prosperity and to deliver upon its Catholic Benedictine mission in new and innovative ways,” St. Leo University Board of Trustees Chair Noel Boeke says in the release. “We are excited about what the future holds for Florida’s first and oldest Catholic university.”

More than 300 candidates from across the nation applied for the position and finalists were interviewed by a university search committee, faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Burkee’s presidency, the schools says, will focus on growing the university’s Catholic Benedictine mission by increasing new student enrollment and retention, growing philanthropic support and working with community and industry partners to strengthen the university’s academic programs.

“I felt called to Saint Leo at a distinct moment in its history — when innovation and mission are converging in bold new ways,” Burkee, says in the release. “As a historian by training and a longtime teacher of history, I’m inspired by institutions that balance courageous innovation with enduring values. That synthesis is already living at St. Leo — in its inventive online learning, strategic partnerships and unwavering service to underserved communities.”

St. Leo University is a nonprofit Catholic Benedictine university. It offers more than 55 degree programs to more than 13,000 students each year and is home to more than 106,000 alumni.