Mary Baldwin University president to retire

Mary Baldwin University President Pamela R. Fox will retire from the school in June 2023 after two decades, the university announced Monday.

Fox announced her retirement during the school’s state of the university address. Her tenure, as the ninth president, is the longest in Mary Baldwin’s history since it became a four-year college in 1923. The university’s board of trustees will work with search firm Academic Search to find the next president, with the goal of naming the person in spring 2023.

“With humility, I have been extraordinarily honored to lead and serve alongside each of you,” Fox wrote in a message to the MBU community. “We have worked together with shared commitment to maintain our momentum with devotion to the mission, legacy, and promising future of Mary Baldwin University.”

She arrived in 2003 and spearheaded major undertakings, such as launching a new branch and campus and college for health care professionals, transitioning from a college to a university and overseeing record enrollment, with the largest incoming class in Mary Baldwin’s history.

During her tenure, Fox spearheaded two of the university’s largest fundraising campaigns, added more than 30 new degrees or programs and opened the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences in 2014 among other milestones.

“Pamela has charted a path to success for the next generation of students through innovative programmatic changes, executed with remarkable speed and success,” Gabrielle G. “Gabby” McCree, chair of the board of trustees, said in a statement.