U. City District head will step down in May

University City District Executive Director Paul Steinke announced Friday that he will step down from his post in May after more than three years of leadership. The UCD Board of Directors will soon form a search committee to find a replacement for Steinke, who has led the organization since its inception in September 1997. Steinke said he is resigning because he feels he has accomplished his objectives for the UCD. "I came to the UCD with a set of goals for myself and the organization, and I felt like I and we have achieved them," Steinke said in an interview yesterday. Penn Executive Vice President John Fry will serve as the interim executive director until Steinke's successor is appointed. Fry will abandon his current position as the chairman of the UCD Board to assume the office. Steinke will continue to advise the board in its search for a new executive director. No official timeline has been set for the hiring of the new executive director, but Steinke said his replacement will come on board "as soon as [it is] practical." Spruce Hill Community Association President Barry Grossbach commended Steinke's efforts. "I think Paul did a wonderful job getting the District off the ground," Grossbach said. Grossbach added that Steinke has been an asset to the area, both on the job and as a neighbor in the community. "For him, I think being executive director of the district was more than a job," Grossbach said. "It was more than a paycheck." Steinke said that he has no firm plans for the future, but that he has several ideas that he may pursue. "I would like to stay involved in civic affairs and civic improvement efforts on behalf of a better Philadelphia," Steinke said. "That has always been my mission." Steinke helped to establish the UCD in 1997 as a non-profit organization designed to unite the community organizations and institutions in the area. In the early part of the 1990s, Steinke spent one year as the director of finance administration and business development at the Center City District. After his work at the CCD, Steinke helped to create the UCD, which he saw as an "interesting challenge." "Our central mission was to be a force for making University City cleaner and closer," Steinke said of the UCD. "I think by any means we have accomplished that and maybe even exceeded our goals." Steinke cites the improving image of University City, the cleaning of Clark Park and the rebuilding of the 40th Street landscape as some of the improvements undergone by the UCD during his term. Steinke said that it has been a rewarding but tiring three-and-a-half years and that he will take a brief break before he continues with his career.