CAMPUS NEWS
Mount Mary University President Eileen Mihm Schwalbach, Ph.D., announced April 28 that she plans to step down at the end of the 2016-17 academic year. The University hopes to have a successor in place by July 2017.
University,” said Marie O’Brien, chair of the University’s Board of Trustees. “We are producing students that are both problem identifiers and problem solvers throughout our community.
She said the timing was right to make the transition. The University is financially sound, has successfully transitioned from college to university status, has added several innovative and highly successful academic programs, and has made key physical improvements to campus – all of which positions Mount Mary to move smoothly into the future.
“President Schwalbach has been an outstanding leader for Mount Mary University,” said Sister Mary Anne Owens, provincial leader of the Central Pacific Province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Mount Mary’s sponsoring organization. “She has devoted her heart and soul to this institution, and her deep respect for faculty, administration, staff and students is obvious.”
Under Dr. Schwalbach’s stewardship, Mount Mary moved up more than 20 spots in the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of private universities to No. 75 in 2015 and the number of freshman applicants increased by 50%. In 2012, Dr. Schwalbach presided over the change of then Mount Mary College to Mount Mary University.
Dr. Schwalbach began at Mount Mary in 1993 as a parttime instructor and joined the faculty full-time in 1997. In 2003, she began as associate dean of Academic and Student Affairs and in January 2004 became interim vice president for Academic and Student Affairs. She became permanent vice president in July 2004, provost in 2007, and served as acting president from September 2008 through February 2009 when she was named the 11th president. Prior to Mount Mary, Dr. Schwalbach was a teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools for 25 years.
In addition, Dr. Schwalbach led the University through strategic planning that resulted in the Creative Campus Initiative, designed to address the need to educate tomorrow’s workforce with creative leadership skills. “Dr. Schwalbach’s leadership has added tremendous value to the academic programs at Mount Mary
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Please see President Schwalbach’s reflection on her decision on page 1.