Thomas E. Cedel

Thomas E. Cedel

Friday, 07 September 2007

Thomas E. Cedel, President of Concordia University of Texas

Thomas Cedel came to Austin from another member of the Concordia University system, where he was a dean and executive vice president. He also served 26 years in the United States Air Force, retiring 10 years ago from his post as senior analyst for the assistant secretary of defense. Cedel said the decision to move the Concordia campus from Austin was difficult, but that it will lead to more growth. "This is all a walk of faith," he said.

• Family: Married, two adult children
• Education: Bachelor’s in biology from the University of Pittsburgh and Doctorate in philosophy and biology from the University of Pittsburgh
• Contact: 486-2000

Q. How has the reaction been from current students and faculty?

A. Wonderful. Everybody’s been on board. The students are ready to leave. They’d leave today if we could move. We obviously can’t get to it that quickly. But it’s been very positive. I mean, let’s start at the really low level. They’re gonna be able to park, and then everything from there is going to be up. They’re going to have sports fields; what a cool idea! It’s going to be really nice.

Q. As you look to the future, what are some of your goals for Concordia?

A. Contributing in the community really is going to be a big one. We want to be good neighbors. And we’re a faith-based institution, so we want to integrate not only into the community, but into the faith-based community around here and hopefully help them. So I think those are big goals.

Q. How do you hope this changes the way people view Concordia?

A. We’re making a big decision to better serve people. I hope people view us as visionaries. We’re a U.S. News & World Report top-tier school, and we want to be better.

Q. How have you been welcomed by the Northwest Austin area?

A. Both Cedar Park and Leander have been wonderful about us coming out here, and people have been very, very positive. I’ve met with both mayors. We’re working to meet with the school districts, too. We have a great baseball team, so you know, if we can engage people with our sports programs and our fine arts programs, that would really be a good thing. Plus this whole preserve – our science guys are just going nuts about that. And the question is how we can help have a learning center here in the community.

Q. What about the alumni reaction?

A. Good. I mean, certainly people are attached to the old campus. It’s been there for 80 years. I had a set of alums that came through a couple weeks ago, and they were back kind of giving Kilian Hall a hug, and the chapel and all that stuff. And they came out here, and they said, ‘Once we came out here, we know why you’re doing this.’ And so we’ve got a history committee that includes a past president, alums and current students, and they’re surveying all the stuff on campus, figuring out what’s important and what we’re going to take with us. We may not be able to put it all out right away, but I think if we bring enough stuff, we’ll be okay.

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