Neil Albert Salonen (born 1946) served as the ninth president of the University of Bridgeport, a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1999 to 2018.For university presidents, it's more than academic, Stamford Advocate, August 31, 2009 He is a member of the Unification Church and became the president of the Unification Church of the United States in 1972.Church members think of Rev. Moon as father, Rock Hill Herald, Associated Press, September 13, 1975 In 1974 he led the National Prayer and Fast Committee, a group founded by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon to support United States president Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.Nixon Backers Open 72 Hours of Prayer on Capitol Steps, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Associated Press, July 23, 1974 In 1976 Salonen met with Senator Bob Dole to defend the Unification Church against charges made by its critics, including parents of some members.Dole meeting with Moon aide called cordial, Lawrence Journal-World, February 24, 1976 In that year he was president of the Freedom Leadership Foundation, an anticommunist and pro South Korean propaganda organization, as well as church president.The Moonies: What are they really like?, Eugene Register-Guard, August 28, 1976
In 1980 Salonen was succeeded as the president of the American church by Mose Durst.Moonie change seen, Modesto Bee, May 8, 1980 In 1997 he served as master of ceremonies at a blessing ceremony for about 20,000 engaged and married couples presided over by Rev. and Mrs. Moon and held in Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington D.C.At RFK Moon Presides Over Mass Wedding, Washington Post, November 30, 1997 In 2002, Salonen was selected to serve on the Presidents Leadership Group, "a body of higher education presidents and chancellors who have declared their commitment to student substance abuse prevention."University of Bridgeport President Neil Salonen to serve as a national leader in Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention , University of Bridgeport press release, March 22, 2002.
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