Jill Nilsen has announced her retirement, effective Dec. 31 of this year.

Nilsen is the vice president for external relations.

In a press release announcing her retirement, Nilsen said “(I) will forever be grateful to this university for the opportunities it has provided me during my professional career. I leave with great affection for the faculty, students and staff with whom I have had the pleasure of working during my 33-plus years here.”

Nilsen earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech pathology and audiology from Eastern, and was awarded her doctorate in speech and hearing science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

The search for Nilsen’s replacement will begin immediately, with Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs, serving as the chair for the search committee.

Julie Nimmons will also be on the search committee as a representative from the Board of Trustees, as well as representatives from the Alumni Association Board, the EIU Foundation Board, and other faculty, students, staff and department chairs.

“The external relations team is composed of great professionals,” said Nilsen. “I hope we will leave a great legacy to the successor.”

The search committee will meet in the first week of July and anticipates the first day of employment for Nilsen’s successor to be Dec. 1.

“Dr. Nilsen’s retirement represents a great loss to Eastern,” said President Bill Perry in the press release. “She has brought us to a stage of development in fundraising, marketing and governmental relations that allows us to continue to advance Eastern from an extremely strong foundation. Our future effectiveness in advancing Eastern has been strongly influenced by her dedicated work.”

Perry also said that he wants to change the position’s title from vice president for external relations to vice president for university advancement.

Nilsen said that Perry’s decision to change the position’s title is consisent with his priorities for the position with fundraising and marketing.

Nilsen became the acting vice president for external relations in 1998 and became the permanent vice president in 2001. Before that, she was a faculty member in speech pathology, beginning in 1976, and served as the chairperson of that department from 1984 to 1990. Nilsen was also an associate dean of the Graduate School from 1990-1993.

“I’ve been here a long time,” said Nilsen. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

Along with being the vice president for external relations, Nilsen has also been involved in the Coles County community, serving on numerous committees, including the Coalition Against Domestic Violence Board, the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center Board and the Charleston Strategic Planning Committee.

Nilsen said that she currently does not know what she’s going to do post-retirement.

“I’m going to retire from Eastern, not from life,” said Nilsen.

Sarah Jean Bresnahan can be reached at 581-7943 or at [email protected].