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 Following the Board of Trustees' acceptance of Fr. Reedy's
resignation as president, the Trustees appointed Provost
Frank Vellaccio to serve as acting president for the 1998-99
academic year.
Vellaccio has worked at Holy Cross since 1974, when he was
hired as an assistant professor of chemistry. That same year,
he earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. A native of West Haven, Conn., Vellaccio
earned a bachelor of science degree from Fordham University
where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. His doctoral thesis, "Synthesis
and Study of New Reagents with Potential Use in Peptide Synthesis," began
his career as an academic chemist in the area of peptide
synthesis.
In addition to articles in scientific journals, Vellaccio
published a textbook, Organic Chemistry, in 1980.
Written with D.S. Kemp, the book became a standard text in
many colleges and universities throughout the country, and
has been translated into Japanese, Italian, and Spanish.
After serving on a number of the College's major committees,
Vellaccio moved into an administrative position in 1986,
becoming dean of the College. From this office, he oversaw
faculty, academic, and curricular policy. The following year,
he became the College's academic vice president. In January
1996, Fr. Reedy named him the College's first provost, with
dual responsibilities for both academic affairs and college
development.
"I can truly say that, outside of my family, there is nothing
that I love more than Holy Cross. It is a marvelous gift
to be able to say this about the place where you work," wrote
Vellaccio in the January/February 1998 issue of Holy
Cross Magazine.
Vellaccio lives in Worcester with his wife, Cathy, and their
five children, one of whom, Jessica, graduated from Holy
Cross in 1997.
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