St. Thomas University renews Armstrong’s contract

Education By Linda Trischitta, Editor Wednesday, October 13, 2021

The Archdiocese of Miami and the Board of Trustees at St. Thomas University announced they have extended the contract of President David A. Armstrong through 2026.

The university, one of eight archdiocesan colleges in the country and the only one in Florida, is celebrating its 60th year.

In announcing Armstrong’s contract news on Oct. 5, it cited a third year in a row of record undergraduate enrollment, with a 15 percent increase of students in the fall incoming class over 2020.

It also said its College of Law, ranked nationally in the Top 5 schools for diversity, had an 18% enrollment increase and the highest cumulative LSAT score in school history for its newest class. Students come to the Miami Gardens campus from 41 states or territories and 70 countries.

Armstrong is an attorney who was named the school’s 10th president in 2018.

He launched the football team and marching band and has helped raise more than $10 million for STU, it said.

He was previously vice president and general counsel at Notre Dame College in Ohio and president at Thomas More University in Kentucky.

Armstrong is married and has two children.

Alumni John J. Dooner, Jr., chair of the university’s board of trustees, said because of Armstrong’s leadership, “the University is thriving.”

The school says it adds $488.6 million in income

to the South Florida economy, with 6,394 jobs held by employees or won by graduates.

The school has added courses in ethical leadership, fashion merchandising, exercise science and human performance and culinary and tourism hospitality management.

It recently opened the Gus Machado College of Business, new student residence halls and soon there will be a new student center and athletic facilities.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who leads the Archdiocese of Miami, called Armstrong “an effective change agent and leader at STU. ...We’re happy that he has extended his contract – there is so much more to be done, and President Armstrong has the vision and the energy to get it done.”