Lawrence H. Biondi, SJ is a Catholic Priest who served as the President of Saint Louis University from 1987 to 2013, a period that saw significant changes to campus and the university as a whole. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Illinois, Biondi studied at St. Ignatius College Preparatory School where he first became interested in the Society of Jesus. Before joining the Jesuit order's Chicago province in 1973, Biondi taught French and Latin at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1965 to 1967. Biondi earned six degrees. His master's degree in linguistics (A Comparative Study of Tagmemic and Stratificational Grammars, 1966) and his doctorate in sociolinguistics (The Linguistic Development and Socialization of Italian-American Children in Boston’s North End, 1975) both were conferred by Georgetown University. He earned three degrees from Loyola University Chicago and a licentiate in sacred theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Chicago. President of Saint Louis University In August 1987, Biondi was chosen to be succeed Thomas R. Fitzgerald, S.J. (1979-87) and be installed as the 31st President of Saint Louis University (SLU). The timeline of Biondi's quarter-century of leadership at SLU shows the following major initiatives. In 1991 SLU opened Missouri's first school of public health, known as Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice. In 1993 West Pine Boulevard that cuts across campus was replaced by a spacious walkway and Clocktower Plaza. Two museums were opened on campus, one of religious art in 1993 and in 2002 the SLU Museum of Art that also includes memorabilia of Jesuit history from Florissant to the Great Plains. In 1999 the Paul C. Reinert, S.J., Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning opened. In 2007 the $82 million Edward A. Doisy Research Center opened, with 80 research labs on 10 floors. It would grow to include a Center for World Health and Medicine, given to the research of medicines to treat diseases that predominantly affect the world's poor and underserved. The following year saw the completion of the $80.5 million Chaifetz Arena seating 10,600 and bringing SLU basketball games back to campus. The old practice gym would become a Cross-Cultural Center welcoming people of all backgrounds, cultures, and identities. In 2013 the law school moved closer to the law courts downtown, with the acquisition of a large facility that housed also the Law Library and legal clinics. In line with