Marquette board of trustees member the Rev. Timothy Lannon will become Creighton University’s 24th president, the Creighton University board of directors announced Friday.

Lannon has been the president of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia since 2003 and will take over the Creighton presidency on July 1, 2011, succeeding the Rev. John Schlegel.

Lannon previously served as associate executive vice president and vice president for University Advancement at Marquette. He is a Creighton alumnus and has multiple connections to the Omaha area.

“While at Creighton many years ago, my life was transformed,” he said in a Creighton University news release. “Now I have the opportunity to come home and continue the visionary momentum of this institution.”

The decision to leave Saint Joseph’s was not easy, he said in a Saint Joseph’s University news release.

“We have accomplished tremendous things, and I know that will continue long after I have left Saint Joseph’s University,” he said.