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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

Saint Mary’s Board of Trustees names Dr. Katie Conboy as incoming 14th College president

Dr. Katie Conboy will be the 14th president of Saint Mary’s College, the Board of Trustees announced in a press release following the official reveal in Spes Unica Hall on Wednesday afternoon. Conboy currently serves as provost and senior vice president at Simmons University, a private women’s institution in Boston, and has held this position since 2013.

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Students, faculty, staff, trustees, Sisters of the Holy Cross and other campus guests gathered in the atrium of Spes Unica Hall to hear Interim President Nekvasil introduce the new president-elect.


Conboy will succeed Interim President Nancy Nekvasil, who has filled this role since 2018.

Conboy previously served first as a professor of English literature and later as provost at Stonehill College, a Holy Cross institution in Massachusetts. Conboy received her undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas in 1981, and her PhD in English literature from the University of Notre Dame in 1986.

Students, faculty, trustees, Sisters of the Holy Cross and other guests gathered in Spes Unica for Conboy’s first official introduction. Alumnae and students studying abroad also watched via livestream.

“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,” Conboy said to the assembled crowd. “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.”

A full report of the event will follow.