Cheryl McConnell Is the First Woman President of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia

The board of trustees of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia has named Cheryl A. McConnell as the university’s 29th president, effectively immediately. She is the first woman to lead the university in its 172-year history.

St. Joseph’s University enrolls about 4,200 undergraduate students and more than 2,220 graduate students, according to the latest U.S. Department of Education statistics. Women make up 52 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Dr. McConnell has served as interim president since June 2022. Earlier, she was provost and chief academic officer for three years. Before her arrival at Saint Joseph’s in 2019, Dr. McConnell held several leadership positions at Rockhurst University, a Jesuit institution in Kansas City, Missouri. She served as dean of both the College of Business, Influence, and Information Analysis and the Helzberg School of Management, as well as associate provost for academic affairs and full professor of accounting.

Dr. McConnell, a first-generation college graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master of professional accountancy degree from Wichita State University in Kansas. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Saint Louis University.

A video of Dr. McConnell addressing the university community during the announcement of her appointment may be viewed below.