MAAC_Program_2025_V4_Pages

OPERATING STRUCTURE

Operating Structure

JUDY D. OLIAN, PHD PRESIDENT OF QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY, MAAC PRESIDENT

has expanded the University’s reach to learners of all ages, emphasizing: innovation, the launch of new graduate and professional programs, and the fostering of industry and community partnerships to strengthen the University’s reputation as a leader in contemporary higher education. In particular, since 2018 Fairfield has launched successful online graduate programs in business, nursing, education, engineering and the arts and social sciences to complement its on-campus programs. In addition, Fairfield has expanded to provide business graduate programs to students in China and India, and recently opened a satellite campus in Austin, TX to provide graduate nursing programs to meet a regional nursing shortage in that area. Under Dr. Nemec’s stewardship, the University’s Ignatian commitment to provide access to education to traditionally underserved communities has also expanded. In addition to significantly increasing need-based financial aid, the University’s Company Scholars program offers full funding and enhanced programing to a select first-generation, Jesuit high school and Cristo Rey graduates. And in partnership with the Diocese of Bridgeport Fairfield has established Fairfield Bellarmine, a campus in Bridgeport that offers no-cost associate’s degree program for traditionally underserved high school graduates, offering a pathway to a four-year degree. President Nemec also led the largest capital campaign in University history, exceeding an original goal of $160 million to raise a total of $218 million to benefit the University. The fulfillment of a University master plan to enhance the campus environment under his stewardship has brought new, and has included the completion of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business facility, the School of Engineering and Computing Innovation Annex, the Barnyard Townhouses and the Leo D. Mahoney Arena amongst others. A graduate of Loyola High School, Jesuit College Preparatory in Los Angeles, President Nemec earned a BA in English from Yale, where he was an All-Ivy League rugby player. He received an MA in education and a PhD in political science from the University of Michigan. Early in his career, he taught American politics as a visiting assistant professor at Davidson College, and as an instructor at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Fairfield, Dr. Nemec served as the dean of the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies at the University of Chicago. Before joining the University of Chicago, Dr. Nemec served as president and chief executive officer of Eduventures, a Boston-based information services firm providing research and advice to the higher education community. He previously had been a member of the executive team of Forrester Research, a provider of similar services to the technology industry. Dr. Nemec is the author of Ivory Towers and Nationalist Minds: Universities, Leadership, and the Development of the American State (University of Michigan Press, 2006), and a contributor to The Educational Legacy of Woodrow Wilson (University of Virginia Press, 2012). Dr. Nemec serves as Chair of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges and Vice Chair of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Council of Presidents. He also serves on the Educational Resources Committee of Loyola High School, and is a fellow of Timothy Dwight College of Yale University. For his and the university’s commitment to educational access, he has been honored with Brooklyn Jesuit Prep’s Sister Thea Bowman Award, Cristo Rey New York’s Ensuring our Future Award as well as the Archdiocese of Bridgeport’s Foundations in Education Award.

Judy D. Olian, PhD, became the 9th president of Quinnipiac University in 2018. With expertise in management and leadership, she has held leadership positions in higher education institutions including most recently at UCLA, and prior to that at The Pennsylvania State University. Born and raised in Australia, Olian received her BS in psychology from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and her MS and PhD in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She

chaired AACSB, the premier accrediting body for business schools globally, and is currently a member of several non-profit boards serving the State of Connecticut, healthcare, and marginalized students, and is also on the boards of publicly traded companies. She has been at multiple universities where Division I sports flourish.

MARK R. NEMEC, PHD PRESIDENT OF FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY, MAAC VICE PRESIDENT

On July 1, 2017 Mark R. Nemec, PhD, became the 9th Ignatian and first lay President of Fairfield University. Working with his senior leadership team, constituents across campus, and the University’s alumni and civic communities, President Nemec has positioned Fairfield to be a modern, Jesuit Catholic University of national prominence — committed to lifelong learning, holistic formation, expansive partnership and advancing educational access. Under President Nemec’s leadership, Fairfield has renewed its commitment to the nearly 500-year-old traditions of

Jesuit pedagogy, with an emphasis on care for the whole student. This values based, student-centric, outcomes-focused approach is designed to form men and women who will live and work for and with others, in pursuit of societal stewardship and productive citizenship. At the same time, he has led the University through a course of expansion and innovation designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and

16

JIM WHELAN BOARDWALK HALL | ATLANTIC CITY