» Mount Mary leadership:
She comes from Nebraska college
Christine Pharr will become the 12th president of Mount Mary University. She now is vice president for alumnae and donor relations at a Catholic women’s college in Omaha, Neb.
Christine Pharr, vice president for alumnae and donor relations at a Catholic women’s college in Omaha, Neb., will become Mount Mary University’s next president in July.
The Catholic liberal arts university on Milwaukee’s west side announced Friday that it tapped an administrator with more than 20 years of experience — including success in fundraising — to be its 12th president. President Eileen Schwalbach will step down this summer after leading Mount Mary since 2008.
Founded in 1913 as a Catholic women’s college by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Mount Mary now enrolls about 1,400 students with more than 30 undergraduate majors for women and nine graduate programs for women and men in four schools.
For the past year, Pharr, 59, has led a team at the College of St. Mary’s in Omaha that raises money for student scholarships, capital projects and the university endowment.
Among her successes in that role, as listed in a news release from Mount Mary:
She met a $1.1 million fundraising goal and stewarded an additional $4.7 million in restricted gifts; raised $500,000 in just two months to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the College of St Mary’s president; and shepherded a 100% employee giving level — a first in the college’s history.
Before that, Pharr served as vice president for academic affairs at the College of St. Mary. In that role, she developed new undergraduate and graduate programs in business, science, nursing, physician assistant and education. Earlier, Pharr served as academic dean and professor of chemistry at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. During her time as dean, she provided oversight of academic programs in nursing, social sciences, humanities, business, natural sciences, mathematics and education.
“Her leadership experience in both academic affairs and alumnae and donor relations, coupled with her ability to articulate a bold yet achievable future, provide Mount Mary with the unique skill set necessary to lead the institution into our next phase of excellence,” Marie O’Brien, chair of the Mount Mary Board of Trustees, said in statement released Friday.
A South Dakota native, Pharr holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D., a master’s degree in chemistry from University of South Dakota, and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Idaho.
“I have a true passion for education and particularly believe that educating women is a great calling that Mount Mary University does very well,” Pharr said in a statement. “I’m truly honored that Mount Mary University and the School Sisters of Notre Dame have put their trust in my ability to lead Mount Mary into the future.”
Two other liberal arts schools in the Milwaukee area have named new presidents within the past year. Sister Andrea Lee was picked last February to lead Alverno College, which also was founded as a Catholic women’s college and now has several programs enrolling men. Carroll University in Waukesha announced its next president, Sara Ray Stoelinga, in November.
Mount Mary plans to formally introduce Pharr to the school community in January.