Saint Mary’s College celebrates the announcement of Dr. Katie Conboy as the 14th president in the College’s 176-year history. Conboy was selected unanimously by the Board of Trustees and will begin on June 1, 2020. The announcement was made at Saint Mary's in front of a gathering of students, faculty, staff, and invited guests. Hundreds of alumnae and study abroad students watched the event via livestream. Conboy succeeds Dr. Nancy Nekvasil, who has served as Interim President since 2018.
“I am so excited to become part of a college that shares so many of my values and priorities: educating the whole person, promoting an open-hearted and inclusive community, and advancing women. I believe Saint Mary’s is a place that changes lives — and can therefore change the world, one person at a time. I want to be part of that transformational mission,” Dr. Conboy said.
Conboy has served as Provost and Senior Vice President at Simmons University, a women’s college in Boston, since 2013. Prior to Simmons, she was at Stonehill College, a Holy Cross institution in North Easton, Massachusetts, where she served first as a professor of English literature, then as Provost. Conboy earned her PhD in English literature from the University of Notre Dame in 1986, and her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas in 1981.
The President-elect comes to Saint Mary's with an understanding of our historical identity and enduring focus on innovation, and brings experienced and passionate leadership to these efforts. As Provost at Simmons, Conboy led an intensive, two-year academic redesign that created four new interdisciplinary colleges. She also drove the university-wide strategic-planning initiative as well as an 18-month curriculum assessment and refinement process.
Conboy also gained 13 years of experience at a Holy Cross college while serving as a chief academic officer of Stonehill. During her tenure as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, she directly supervised academic strategic planning, assessment of curriculum and co-curriculum, and all faculty hiring and development. The Office of Admissions also reported directly to her for seven years as the VP of Academic Affairs.
