Michele C. Murray has been appointed president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, a national organization that supports Jesuit higher education institutions in the United States, Belize, and Canada. Dr. Murray will begin her post as the association’s first lay president on June 2.
With three decades of experience at Jesuit institutions, Dr. Murray currently serves as senior vice president for student development and mission at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Earlier, she was the college’s dean of students and vice president for student affairs.
Before her tenure at Holy Cross, Dr. Murray spent over a decade as vice president for the division of student development at Seattle University in Washington, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership and student development. Dr. Murray’s background in academia also includes student affairs positions with Loyola University Maryland and the University of Vermont.
“The opportunity to lead AJCU calls to both my heart and my professional purpose,” said Dr. Murray. “For the past 30 years, I have been guided by a deep belief in the power of Jesuit, Catholic higher education to transform lives and serve the common good. Its enduring focus on holistic student learning and development, and its commitment to creating just societies, has shaped my leadership style and my vocation as an educator. I am deeply grateful to the Jesuits who have shared Ignatian spirituality with me, and to my mentors and colleagues across our network of Jesuit, Catholic colleges and universities who labor daily to fulfill the promise of our extraordinary approach to education.”
Dr. Murray is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she double-majored in rhetoric and communication studies and psychology. She earned her master’s degree in higher education and student affairs administration from the University of Vermont and her Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Maryland.