When Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., assumed the presidency of Canisius College in July 1993, the challenge before him was clear: turn a good local college into a truly great regional university. Throughout his 17 years of leadership, Canisius College expanded physically, renewed itself academically, and matured into a prominent player in the Western New York community.

“Father Cooke is one of the greatest Jesuit presidents in the last 50 years,” says Fordham University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. “He will be remembered as the man who transformed Canisius College.”

Father Cooke’s highest priority was to raise the academic quality of the college. He is renowned for saying that “Our business is education first, second, and a thousand times before anything else.” During his tenure, Canisius implemented new academic majors in such emerging fields as bioinformatics, international business, digital media arts and accounting information systems. The college recruited more full-time faculty and lowered its student-faculty ratio. Father Cooke also provided Canisius’ best educators with the resources necessary to focus on scholarship and creative teaching initiatives.

Canisius similarly bolstered the academic quality of the student body. Father Cooke raised admission standards, placed greater emphasis on student retention, and kept a Canisius education affordable for the best and brightest students through merit-based aid and increased scholarship assistance.

The results are tangible. The average SAT score is 1118; up from 958 during Father Cooke’s first year. The college’s science programs average a 93 percent acceptance rate for students who apply to medical or health science professional schools. Graduates of Canisius’ accounting program consistently lead New York State in the percentage of students who pass parts of the CPA exam. And in 2007-2008, Canisius College tied for fifth in the nation, among master’s institutions, for its number of J. William Fulbright Scholarship recipients.

At the same time Father Cooke raised the academic quality of the college, he also transformed it into a residential institution. He believed, “Private higher education can not prosper in an environment in which it is offered primarily to commuter students,” and invested a total of $67 million in eight major residence hall projects, which now house about half – or 1,500 - of the full-time undergraduate student population.

Additional capital investments include the restoration of the former St. Vincent de Paul Church into the spectacular 500-seat Montante Cultural Center, and the comprehensive renovations of Old Main and Lyons Hall. These two buildings also underwent a $22 million technology upgrade to create state-of-the-art classrooms and computer labs. Plans are now underway to develop Science Hall, a $47 million interdisciplinary science center, which will support the college’s nationally-ranked undergraduate science programs.

In all, Canisius completed a total of 24 capital projects at a price-tag of about $150 million, during Father Cooke’s presidency. The multi-million dollar investment made Canisius one of the most significant private developers in the city of Buffalo. A Buffalo News poll of Western New York leaders ranked Father Cooke the second most influential civic leader and the college as the second most influential institution overall in terms of their positive impact on the community.

“The residents of Buffalo want people and institutions to take initiative, not to look to the government as a sole source for a project,” explains John J. Hurley, executive vice president and vice president for college relations. “I think they were inspired by Father Cooke’s unconditional investment in the college and the city of Buffalo.”

Father Cooke’s guiding philosophy toward the college’s immediate community further endeared Canisius to its neighbors. “What is good for Canisius has to be good for the neighbors and what is good for the neighbors should necessarily be good for Canisius,” he says.

Father Cooke met regularly with the Block Club leadership, designated a contact person on campus whom the neighbors could call with concerns, and enhanced the college’s policing efforts in the neighborhood. The college also initiated the Employer Assisted Housing program, which provides incentives to Canisius employees who purchase homes in the college’s neighboring community.

“When I came to Buffalo in 1996, Canisius was self-contained,” says Alphonso O’Neil-White, chief executive officer of BlueCross BlueShield, a former corporate neighbor to Canisius. “Today, there is a great dynamic between Canisius and the families who have lived in the neighborhood for generations. The area feels more alive than ever, and the college’s thoughtful and successful expansion has played a tremendous role in that.”

Father Cooke’s fund raising enabled Canisius to support many of its expansions, improvements and scholarship assistance. The groundswell of enthusiasm generated by Father Cooke for the college’s Imagine Canisius capital campaign, not only enabled the college to achieve its $30 million campaign goal but surpass it by $8.8 million. The college’s latest campaign, A Legacy of Leadership: The Campaign for Canisius College, has raised $72 million to date.

“Father Cooke taught us a great lesson,” says Joseph J. Castiglia, an emeritus member of the Board of Trustees. “He taught us to think big because when you do, you achieve big.”

When Father Cooke steps down as president on June 30, he will become assistant to the New York Provincial for colleges and universities. The move returns him to the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, where he previously served as provincial, and currently serves as a member of the Province’s finance committee. Early in 2008, Father Cooke was a delegate at the Jesuits’ General Congregation 35, which elected Father Adolfo Nicolas as the new General of the Society of Jesus. He also served as a delegate at General Congregation 33, in 1983, which elected Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach as General.

A true visionary, Father Cooke is a big-picture person. He maintains that people are an institution’s greatest resource, and he brings people together from across campus, to encourage and thoughtfully consider their views. He insists that even the most ordinary be done extraordinarily well.

Indeed, Father Cooke brought Canisius to levels of greatness that few thought possible. He distinguished himself as a leader at the college and an exemplar in the community.