Matthew Draud will be the 13th president of Briar Cliff University. (Photo by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)
Sioux City, Iowa — A former biology professor who’s been a college administrator for over two decades will become president of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City in July. Matthew Draud has been the vice president of academic affairs at McMurray University in Abilene, Texas, since 2020.
Draud, one of four finalists for the job, says his interview was capped off by a dinner with students — and that’s what convinced him to take the job.
Briar Cliff’s website shows 941 students were enrolled at the school last fall. Draud says Briar Cliff, like every college and university in the country, is heading into the next academic year behind the eight ball due to the revamped and delayed federal financial aid application process.
Federal rules that go into effect later this year require colleges to show students and parents how much they’ll be paying for college and the financial outcomes they can expect to achieve after graduation. Briar Cliff was founded by the Sisters of Saint Francis and started as a women’s college in 1934. Men were admitted in 1965. Draud will be Briar Cliff’s 13th president when he takes over July 1st. The university’s 12th president resigned in January to become the chief financial officer at a small Catholic college in Kansas City, Kansas.
