Keith Elder has been named the twenty-second president of Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois. He will assume his presidency on March 1, 2024.
Saint Xavier University enrolls roughly 2,400 undergraduate students and 600 graduate students. Black students make up about 6 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Elder comes to Saint Xavier University from Mississippi College where he served as executive vice president and provost. Previously, he served as a professor and the founding dean of the School of Public Health at Samford University in Alabama. He held previous academic appointments at Saint Louis University in Missouri and the University of South Carolina. Throughout his career as a scholar, Dr. Elder has conducted various studies on the health care industry, including how to reduce disparities and inequities in the medical sphere. He currently serves on the editorial board of the American Journal on Public Health.
“I am honored to serve as the next president of Saint Xavier University and look forward to working with this remarkable student-centered, mission-focused community. Saint Xavier has a longstanding and impressive history and is known for opening doors to bright futures, and I am eager to help build upon the institution’s stellar reputation,” said Dr. Elder.
Dr. Elder holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in public health and public administration from the University of Alabama Birmingham. He earned his Ph.D. in policy sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore.
