Jacksonville University announced Dec. 15 that its board of trustees agreed to extend President Tim Cost’s contract through 2027.
A 1981 JU graduate and a former trustee, Cost is in his 10th year as president. He was elected in October 2012 and became president Feb. 1, 2013.
Cost, 63, also has an MBA in finance and economics from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester.
“There is great work well underway, and we look forward to advancing our significant progress in the years ahead,” said JU board Chair Matt Kane, a 2001 JU graduate.
Founded in 1934, JU offers more than 100 majors, minors and programs. It has five colleges, 11 schools and four institutes.
Its main campus is a 235-acre riverfront site at 2800 University Blvd. N. in the Arlington neighborhood.
Since Cost was named president, JU has launched three locations in Downtown Jacksonville and Palm Coast, established a 32,000-square-foot Healthcare Simulation Center in Jacksonville, created the College of Law, which opened Downtown this fall, and announced a new medical school partnership on campus with LECOM, the largest medical school in the United States.
The release also said Cost:
• Led the effort for the ASPIRE comprehensive campaign, helping to raise more than $121 million for the school.
• Directed more than $100 million in renovations, technology upgrades and new construction on the Arlington campus.
• Along with the city, led the “Renew Arlington” effort of community investment and economic development.
JU said in the release it has created 52 new major fields of study in the past 10 years, including financial technology, speech language pathology, clinical mental health counseling, occupational therapy, respiratory care, physical therapy, accelerated nursing, business analytics, health informatics, engineering, law, cybersecurity, data science and robotics.
“My wife Stephanie and I now look forward to many more years of important work for our students and community, in partnership with our excellent faculty, dedicated staff and fully engaged Board of Trustees,” Cost said in the release.
Cost joined JU after a 32-year global career as a senior executive at PepsiCo, Kodak, Bristol-Myers Squibb, ARAMARK, Pharmacia, Centocor/Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth/Pfizer and APCO Worldwide.
He serves on regional business and civic boards that include GuideWell/Florida Blue, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Brooks Rehabilitation, the Jacksonville Civic Council, JAX Chamber and The Players Council.