When Richard Jewell graduated from Grove City College in 1967, little did he realize that he would one day come back as president of the school.

But as of Wednesday evening, the 58-year-old Bethel Park man was formally pronounced president of the school and though he has spent most of his life in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, he considers Grove City just like home.

"Some of these roots are in Grove City and they never left. Both where I grew and also on that campus," said Jewell, a lawyer and former director of Navigant Consulting Inc., the largest forensic accounting firm in the nation. He recently stepped down from his Pittsburgh position with the Chicago-based firm to take the GCC presidency.

"I came there 40 years ago this fall as a freshman. As soon as I graduated, I served on the alumna council then began serving on the board of trustees in 1974. I never was really far from the school either geographically or emotionally," he said, adding that he recused himself from the board in January when he realized a search for a new president was in the works.

Jewell succeeds John H. Moore, who announced his intent to retire in January, and stepped down in June.

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