Nimocks’ role shifts from police work to community building

Ann Marie Lipinski, Vice President for Civic Engagement, has appointed Rudy Nimocks to be the University of Chicago’s Director of Community Partnerships, leveraging Nimocks’ 20 distinguished years of service as chief of the University of Chicago Police Department to expand the University’s collaboration with its neighbors.

Marlon Lynch will assume the duties of chief of police as part of his responsibilities as Associate Vice President for Safety and Security.

In his two decades as the University’s police chief, Nimocks has overseen significant growth in the University’s investment in safety and security, including the expansion of the policing boundaries and of the UCPD staff. Under his leadership, these measures resulted in dramatic reductions in crime for both the University community and its neighbors.

President Zimmer noted that his value to the University goes far beyond those numbers.

“Rudy has been, and I am happy to say will continue to be, not only a wonderful leader for the University and the community, but a person of the highest integrity, personal values and extraordinary commitment,” Zimmer said. “I greatly value his work, admire him as a person and I am proud that he is a member of the University community.”

Nimocks’ law enforcement career spans more than a half-century, beginning with his first assignment in 1956 at the Chicago Park District police station house that is now the DuSable Museum. He later joined the Chicago Police Department and served in virtually every role, including detective, sergeant, lieutenant, homicide commander and deputy superintendent. That expertise, coupled with his deep roots in neighboring Woodlawn, his home since 1952, made Nimocks an ideal candidate to lead the police force when he joined the University in 1989.

“Rudy’s success as chief is, in no small measure, a result of his passion for community work and his vast network of relationships throughout the city and South Side,” Lipinski said. “In his new role, Rudy will focus full-time on working with the large and diverse collection of community organizations and leaders—established and emerging—whose efforts are key to urban health and vibrancy.”

Nimocks, who will report directly to Lipinski in his new role, said both the University and the city are entering a new era.

“This is an exciting role for me because these are exciting times for this part of the city and for the University,” Nimocks said. “The possibility of the Olympics, the potential for redevelopment, the opportunities for improving schools and more is something I want to be a part of.”

Lynch, a Chicago native and president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, oversees the University’s police, transportation and parking operations. Before coming to the University in February, he served in a similar capacity at Vanderbilt University.

“It’s an honor to be associated with Rudy and his legacy at UCPD and within the neighboring communities,” Lynch said. “His work ethic has been tireless, and I know it will be in his new capacity. I’m looking forward to our ongoing collaboration with the Chicago Police Department and to continuing our professionalism and technology implementation in safety and security. Our community is a vibrant place to live and work, and we will be diligent in our duty to help make it safer.”