Harry Scherer
MSMU Class of 2022

(3/22) Timothy Trainor, Ph.D., President of Mount St. Mary’s University, announced to the university community on March 13 that he plans to retire from his position in the summer of 2024. He is the 26th President to lead the institution.

Trainor said in an video announcing his retirement that "it has been an honor to serve you as president for the past six-and-a-half years, and I look forward to the next sixteen months. The Mount is a strong community – and together we have done well – but higher education will continue to be competitive and more work remains in service to our students, our Church, and our community."

The president referred in the video announcement to two "potentially destabilizing crises" that were overcome during his administration: "the troubles of 2016," which refers to the scandal-ridden, short-term presidency of his predecessor, British administrator Simon Newman, and the pandemic.

"The Mount is an incredibly strong and resilient community, and has accomplished a great deal since August 2016," Trainor said.

His administration saw a twelve percent overall increase in enrollment and the largest freshman class in the fall of 2020. The seminary is the largest in the country and saw substantial growth through his presidency, now boasting over 150 seminarians. Both strategically and personally, Trainor emphasized athletics throughout his tenure, which saw a 50 percent increase in NCAA Division 1 teams and almost double the number of student-athletes.

Trainor also mentioned the continued work of the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, which sits atop the Mount’s campus. Trainor said the grotto "continues to attract hundreds of thousands of the faithful to do devotion to our Blessed Mother."

Looking toward the future, Trainor said that "much remains to be done to set the Mount up to thrive for decades to come." He added that he will continue to be "fully engaged" with the work of his role until its conclusion.

Trainor said that the Mount’s board of trustees plans to hire the New York-based management consulting firm Russell Reynolds Associates, which will send representatives to Emmitsburg this spring "to engage our community in developing a position specification for use in advertising the position," Trainor said.

The board plans to advertise the position and search for candidates this summer, review and vet candidates this fall, and select the new president before the end of the year.

Before his departure, Trainor seeks to successfully complete the Mount’s accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, prepare for the opening of a new graduate school of health professions in fall 2024, open Rother House, a space that is set to open in August 2023 where first-year seminarians will complete their newly established propaedeutic stage of formation on the campus of the Seton Shrine, maintain the expansion of the Coad Science Building, and prepare for the renovation of the existing building.