Women’s College Selects a Man as President

All 1,300 of the on-campus undergraduate students at Notre Dame of Maryland University are women. But the new president of the university will be a man; the first man in the college’s 116-year history to be named president. The school’s weekend programs and graduate programs are coeducational.

In July the new president will be James F. Conneely. He is currently associate provost and vice president of student affairs at Eastern Kentucky University.

“While we were open to the possibility of a man as our 12th president at the start of the search process, probably none of us was expecting that we would select a man as Notre Dame’s next leader,” explained Patricia J. Mitchell, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Some have asked, ‘Couldn’t we find excellent women candidates?’ The answer is a resounding ‘yes’ – we were fortunate to have many extraordinary female candidates emerge in our national search. But the absolute best candidate, the individual who represents the right fit for Notre Dame at this distinctive time in our history, is Dr. Conneely.”