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Marymount president to step down next summer

Special To The Catholic Herald

Matthew D. Shank has announced plans to step down after seven
years as president of Marymount University in Arlington, effective June 30,
2018.

“I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve Marymount
University,” said Shank. “It has been a joy to work with so many intelligent,
passionate and genuinely caring faculty, staff, students and University
constituents. Together, we have accomplished much, and as 2017 draws to a
close, Marymount is strong and poised for even greater success.”

Shank said the university is well-positioned for a transition to its seventh president, citing a number of initiatives either
recently completed or nearing completion — such as the university’s five-year
strategic plan, redevelopment of its Ballston Center, reaffirmation of its
accreditation and a capital campaign.

“After much personal reflection and prayer, I have asked Board of
Trustees Chairperson Ed Bersoff to initiate a presidential search,” he said.

The consulting firm Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates will lead
a national effort to select the school’s next president.

“I am extremely grateful to Matthew Shank for his faithful years
of service to Marymount University,” said Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge
in a statement released Nov. 7. “Since my arrival in the Diocese of Arlington,
Dr. Shank has welcomed me and made efforts to involve me in the activities of
Marymount University. During this time of transition, I offer my sincere
prayers for Dr. Shank and his family that God would continue to bless them.”

“Dr. Shank means more to Marymount than I can adequately
express,” said Bersoff, chairman of Greenwich Associates LLC. “We owe him a
tremendous debt of gratitude for his vision and leadership in the
implementation of our strategic plan and development of a new master plan, the
momentum of our $40 million capital campaign, enhancement of our reputation,
the growth of our academic programs and facilities and so much more.”

Bersoff added that Shank has the option of taking a year’s leave
and then joining Marymount’s School of Business Administration in the fall of
2019 as a professor of marketing.

A well-respected teacher, scholar and administrator, Shank
assumed the presidency of Marymount in 2011 and has invigorated the campus
community through collaborative development of a shared vision and emboldened
academic and athletic programs with campus facilities to match.

In 2011-12, he led a task force charged with discerning a shared
understanding of Marymount’s core values and organizational climate to
articulate a vision for the university’s future. The campus-wide process
clarified the university’s identity, resulting in its Common Ground tenets:
Intellectual Curiosity, Global Perspective and Service to Others. Under these
essential pillars, Marymount’s liberal arts education builds upon its founding
mission to teach, mentor and develop servant-leaders.

On the heels of establishing the Marymount vision, Shank led
development of the university’s strategic plan: Building the Institution of
Choice, currently in its final year of implementation.

The expansion of academic programs during Shank’s administration
has yielded increased diversity in the student population and an 11 percent
increase in student retention rates. He has been an advocate for new, relevant
academic programs such as a doctorate in cybersecurity, an undergraduate
program in biochemistry and a graduate certificate in association management
undertaken in collaboration with the American Society for Association
Executives Center for Association Leadership. Other community connections have
been forged as well. For example, a MedStar National Rehabilitation Network
outpatient center is located in the same academic facility as Marymount’s
physical therapy program, offering exceptional therapy services to the
community while at the same time providing clinical rotations to physical therapy
doctoral students.

In fall 2016, Shank announced the most ambitious capital campaign
in Marymount’s history. Under his direction, the $40 million goal is on track
to be met this fiscal year, more than two years ahead of schedule.

During his tenure, Marymount’s campus has experienced
considerable growth and improvement. The main campus saw a multimillion-dollar
renovation to academic, residential and athletic facilities, as well as its
chapel. Most recently, the university opened its new Ballston Center. Located
two miles from the main campus, the innovative mixed-use complex includes an
academic tower with six floors of educational space and another three floors to
be leased to businesses, offsetting costs of the new facility with additional
revenues.

 

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