Berry College Provost Mary K. Boyd has been named president of Emmanuel College in Boston.
Boyd, who will be the Massachusetts college’s 13th president, and the first lay president, will join Emmanuel before the beginning of the fall semester.
“The mission of Emmanuel strongly resonates with me, I look forward to leading the College into its next phase of innovation and growth,” said Boyd.
Last fall, Sister Janet Eisner announced her intention to conclude her 43-year tenure as president of Emmanuel College. The Catholic, coeducational, residential, liberal arts and sciences college in Boston has been educating critical thinkers, ethical decision makers and community leaders for more than 100 years.
Founded in 1919 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur as the first Catholic college for women in New England, Emmanuel enrolls more than 2,000 students and is co-educational. Like Berry, Emmanuel’s mission is to educate the whole person and provide an ethical and relevant 21st-century education.
As the college’s chief academic officer, Boyd has led the Dean’s Council and overseen faculty, curriculum, library, international experiences, the Honors Program, and academic support services. She also helped guide the college’s strategic planning and implementation efforts.
According to President Steve Briggs, “Emmanuel College has found a leader who is both principled and pragmatic, with a sharp eye for excellence. I have admired her thoughtful analysis of issues and her decisiveness, especially in the face of challenges and uncertainty.
“She is smart, inquisitive, engaging, and truly enjoys getting to know her community, from students to faculty to alumni. We will miss her leadership at Berry College, but I am thrilled for Mary as she devotes her talents to a thriving, mission-driven college in such a vibrant city.”
During her five years at Berry, Boyd focused on student success, helping to increase retention and graduation rates. She also worked to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging on campus with proactive recruitment practices to diversify faculty and staff. Boyd promoted undergraduate research and faculty development, as well as expanded academic program offerings and grant proposal activity.
Before Berry, she served as vice president of academic affairs at St. Edward’s University in Austin and as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Diego. She was chair of Georgia Southern University’s Department of Chemistry and also taught in Loyola University Chicago’s Department of Chemistry.
Educated as an organic chemist, Boyd was elected to the Executive Committee of the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry and served in numerous roles, including division chair. In 2015, Boyd was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. She also served as president of the Association of Chief Academic Officers. She received the Edwin T. and Vivijeanne F. Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University Chicago. Boyd also received the Distinguished Faculty Award from Associated Students at the University of San Diego.
She has B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from the University of Toronto and was a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the State University of New York Stony Brook.
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