Cady Short-Thompson Appointed the Seventh President of Northern Kentucky University

Cady Short-Thompson has been selected to be the seventh president of Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights. She will take office on October 2.

Northern Kentucky University enrolls nearly 11,000 undergraduate students and more than 5,000 graduate students, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 60 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Dr. Short-Thompson has been serving as CEO and executive director of Breakthrough Cincinnati, a nonprofit organization focused on educational equity that provides rigorous college preparatory programs for high-need and high-potential middle and high school students and inspires and trains college students as the next generation of teachers.

Dr. Short-Thompson spent 25 years in higher education prior to joining Breakthrough Cincinnati, most recently serving as provost and professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and dean of the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College. She is also no stranger to Northern Kentucky University, having spent 14 years as a professor of communication and department chair from 1996 to 2010.

“I am ecstatic to return home to NKU, where my professional journey began, and to give back to the people and place that invested so fully in me,” said Dr. Short-Thompson “NKU’s values of excellence, engagement, student-centeredness, and belonging are deep in me and I am eager to serve alongside NKU’s talented faculty, staff, students, and alumni to lead this great institution forward. I love NKU and believe that it is entirely fitting that my first and final positions will be here.”

Dr. Short-Thompson earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a Ph.D., all from the University of Cincinnati.