Maria Sophia Aguirre, an ordinary professor of economics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, will become the third president of Catholic Distance University July 1. The university’s board of trustees unanimously elected Aguirre following a nationwide search after longtime president, Marianne Evans Mount, announced that she would retire at the end of the 2022–23 academic year.
“In searching for a successor to our great president, Dr. Marianne Mount, CDU struck gold in recruiting Dr. Aguirre,” said CDU’s Board Chair Stephen Pryor, calling her a “visionary academic leader,” successful innovator and research pioneer. As the university implements a new Catholic Social Teaching curriculum in the U.S. and Latin America, he said Aguirre’s international experience, Spanish fluency and research background will be “game changers.”
“Upon her appointment by the board of directors of Catholic Distance University to the position of president, I convey my congratulations to Dr. Maria Sophia Aguirre,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge. “She brings to CDU an incredible amount of experience from a range of academic, governmental, and business environments that will undoubtedly serve this critical institution well for years to come. With her leadership, we have good reason to be confident that the mission of CDU will only continue to grow.
Aguirre, a tenured faculty member and researcher in the field of finance, family, and economic development, has 30 years of experience. She has held leadership positions at the academic program level, department and school levels, as well as the university at large. She was a Fulbright scholar in 2012–13.
Aguirre, who is on leave from Catholic University, is excited about the opportunity for growth she sees in CDU.
“I never in a million years thought I would be doing this,” said Aguirre in a phone interview with the Catholic Herald. “CDU is ready to go into the next stage and that is a stage that is needed.”
Aguirre said she wants CDU to expand its offerings beyond theology.
“So many (academic) fields can be done online where we can reach everyone,” she said, adding “we can be faithful to the teachings of the church, no matter what the topic is.”
She singled out education, finance, science and artificial intelligence as areas she expects to see growth. She also noted she wants the school to begin collaborating with other more traditional universities to conduct research.
“The sky is the limit,” she said. “I am sure God wants this because it is needed all over the world (and) we can help a lot of people.”
Aguirre comes to the post after an extensive career in academics and diplomacy.
She completed her accounting and business administration degrees in Argentina. She later earned a master’s and doctorate in economics from the University of Notre Dame with concentrations in monetary and fiscal policies, and international financial markets.
Aguirre represented countries, including the Holy See, in international organizations, and was a Senate approved presidential appointee to the State Department for two separate administrations.
Since leaving government, Aguirre has worked to develop and implement Integral Economic Development, an interdisciplinary approach to economic analysis that recognizes the role of social relationships — first manifested by the family — as key drivers of economic activity. Her research has led to successful collaboration with a variety of business leaders, academicians, technologists, and policy makers on six continents, improving the lives of millions of people in the developing world.
