VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has appointed the first layperson to head Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University.

The pope named Vincenzo Buonomo, 57, rector of the university, a Vatican press release announced June 2. As of July 1, he will succeed 67-year-old Bishop Enrico dal Covolo, a Salesian who was appointed rector in 2010.

Born April 17, 1961, in Gaeta, Buonomo specialized in international law and received his doctorate from the Lateran in 1983. He began teaching civil law at the university in 1984 and became a full professor in 2001. Pope Francis named him an adviser of the Vatican City State in 2014.