Carl Sandburg College president announces retirement

Carl Sandburg College President Seamus Reilly has announced that he will retire from his position at the end of his contract on June 30, 2027, after nine years leading the institution, according to a news release.

“It truly has been an honor to lead Carl Sandburg College over the past nine years,” Reilly said. “I am proud of the work that has been accomplished through the hard work of staff and faculty, and I look forward to seeing Sandburg continue to grow and shape our region.”

“On behalf of the board of trustees, we are deeply grateful for Dr. Reilly’s leadership, dedication and commitment to our students and District 518,” said Joshua Gibb, chairperson of the Sandburg board of trustees. “He leaves Carl Sandburg College stronger and well positioned for the future.

“The Board of Trustees takes the responsibility of selecting its next president very seriously and will approach that work with great care and purpose. While we will miss working with Seamus, we are excited about what lies ahead for Carl Sandburg College.”

Reilly became the seventh president of Sandburg in 2018. During his tenure, he’s led strategic planning efforts to enrich the college community and the community at large through new academic programs and the implementation of a campus master plan that’s sparked a bevy of improvement projects.

In 2024, Sandburg opened the Science & Technology Center, which houses programs for health professions, natural sciences, nursing and dental hygiene as well as the college’s dental hygiene clinic. The nearly 47,000-square-foot structure marked the first new building on Sandburg’s Galesburg campus since 2006.

Connected to the S+T Center, the renovated Student Center opened on the Galesburg campus in April 2025. In addition to offering a refurbished area for students to enjoy, the renovation brought nearly all the college’s student services — including admissions, advising, academic support, counseling, TRIO Student Support Services, student engagement and financial aid — under the same roof.

Just last month, Sandburg broke ground on the Charger Center, a 70,204-square-foot athletic and conference space that will serve as the new home for Sandburg’s athletic programs and support additional academic and community use.

Also under Reilly’s leadership, the college secured a $1.8 million grant through the state in 2025 to create the 518 Collective, an agricultural technology incubator located at the Annex on Main Street in downtown Galesburg.

Reilly also steered Sandburg through the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a transition to virtual and online learning for nearly every class offered during that time. In 2024, he received the Shirley B. Gordon Award from Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the organization’s most prestigious honor given to community college presidents.

A 30-plus-year veteran in higher education, Reilly served as a vice president at Parkland College in Champaign before coming to Sandburg. While there, he also served as department chair of Fine and Applied Arts, director of International Education and an English instructor. He was inducted into the Parkland College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2024.

Reilly graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997 with a doctorate in English.

He serves on the Galesburg Area Chamber of Commerce board, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Presidents’ Commission, the Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development (KCAP) board of directors, the LWIA 14 Region Workforce Innovation Board, the Amtrak Corridor committee, the National Railroad Hall of Fame board of directors and the Gale Scholars Steering Committee.

Sandburg’s board of trustees, in partnership with a search firm, soon will begin a national search for the college’s eighth president.

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