Mark Dienhart, executive vice president and chief operating officer, will end his tenure at St. Thomas July 8 to serve as the president and chief operating officer of the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation.

Dienhart said he and foundation founder Dick Schulze worked together on St. Thomas’ Opening Doors capital campaign. That relationship, along with timing, made the career move attractive.

“I got to know Dick Schulze and Maureen Schulze well over the last seven, eight years. They have some very ambitious plans for the foundation, and they were looking for me to provide them with some assistance in moving the foundation in the direction they had in mind,” Dienhart said. “It seemed like the right time to make the change.”

Dick Schulze is founder of Best Buy Co., a St. Thomas trustee since 1995, and the name behind St. Thomas’ Schulze School of Entrepreneurship. Dienhart said the foundation, established in 2004, helps fund around $15 million annually in medical research and education projects and will continue to evolve.

“The foundation has done some good and meaningful work in the past … and there will be some work done on further defining areas of focus here in the future,” Dienhart said. “Given the public remarks that Dick has given recently about how he’d like to grow the foundation to become one of the top four or so private foundations in the state of Minnesota over the next several years, we’d obviously be able to do even more important work.”

As a 1975 St. Thomas alumnus, All-American Tommie athlete in football and track and field, former head football and track and field coach, and former vice president for institutional advancement, Dienhart said St. Thomas is “home” to him.

“Having been associated with (St. Thomas) in one way or another for about 40 years, I have tremendous affection for the people here, and I am a true believer in St. Thomas’ mission,” Dienhart said. “It has been just a privilege and a delight to be in service to the institution.”

University President, the Rev. Dennis Dease, commended Dienhart on his leadership at the university in a Newsroom interview.

“Mark had both the vision and the organization skills to accomplish a great deal during the time of a challenging recession and escalating competition for students,” Dease said. “He always had the highest standards and worked tirelessly to carry out each and every task. His contributions have been enormous and will be felt for many years.”

Doug Hennes, vice president of university and governmental relations, said Dienhart moved the university forward during his St. Thomas career.

“We’re here to make sure that the students get a really good education and Mark had an absolutely crucial role in that regard,” Hennes said. “He raised funds, he oversaw administrator functions, he helped to construct new buildings that are a vital part of university life. When you add it all up, he made tremendous contributions in his time here.”

Since Julie Sullivan will soon be transitioning into university president, Hennes said she needs time to make decisions about how she wants to structure her administration, so no plans have been determined to find Dienhart’s replacement.

Continued Involvement

Although Dienhart will no longer be a university employee, Hennes said there was mutual interest from both the university and Dienhart to have an ongoing connection.

“I do hope to be involved,” Dienhart said. “I obviously care deeply about St. Thomas. It’s my hope to do anything I can to be of help. A number of the people in leadership positions are people I hired, and a number of them are involved in projects we started together. I would guess I might be able to be of help as those move forward.”

Hennes said much of Dienhart’s new relationship with the university isn’t planned yet, but may include some type of advisory role to Sullivan.

“In this next phase, he’ll have a role that is still being determined,” Hennes. “It needs to be developed, in terms of what type of advisory role he would have. That will develop over time.”

“I’ll do anything that I am asked to do and certainly anything that Dr. Sullivan would want me to be involved in,” Dienhart said. “I’d be happy to be of service to the institution.”

Dienhart will also work closely with the St. Thomas’ Schulze School for Entrepreneurship as part of his role as the foundation’s president.

“I know that Dick Schulze wants me to make sure that the school of entrepreneurship becomes everything he and the university envisioned when it was first established here,” Dienhart said.

Heidi Enninga can be reached at enni5264@stthomas.edu.