SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall University board of regents voted unanimously on March 23 to appoint Mary Meehan, Ph.D., a highly respected higher education and health care leader, as well as a former Seton Hall administrator and university alumna, as its interim president, effective April 11. Meehan’s appointment allows Seton Hall President A. Gabriel Esteban to focus full-time on the transition to his new position as president of DePaul University, according to a release from Seton Hall.
The board also authorized the launch of a nationwide search for the next president of Seton Hall University. In a message to the Seton Hall community, board Chairman Patrick M. Murray said: “We are excited to begin the process of identifying the next talented leader for this great institution.”
Meehan has spent more than 30 years in key leadership positions at higher education and health care institutions, including more than a decade as the president of Alverno College, a leading Catholic women’s college in Milwaukee, Wisc., ranked among the top regional universities in the Midwest in the “Most Innovative Schools” category by U.S. News & World Report.
“Dr. Meehan is an experienced and talented leader with a true passion for Seton Hall and a shared commitment to our Catholic mission,” Murray said.
“I am thrilled and energized to return to Seton Hall University at this exciting moment in its history,” Meehan said. “The faculty, staff, students and alumni make this a special place, and I am confident that, working together, we will continue to advance this great university and its Catholic mission.”
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Meehan back to Seton Hall and thank her for agreeing to serve in this important role to help ensure a seamless transition to the next chapter of leadership for the university,” Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, said in his role as chairman of the board of trustees and president of the board of regents.
“Dr. Meehan is an excellent choice to lead Seton Hall forward,” Esteban said. “She is a strong and talented executive who knows this university well and is prepared to lead on day one. As I spend the next few months preparing for the next professional chapter of my life at DePaul, I wish Dr. Meehan all of the best.”
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