The board of trustees of Mount St. Mary’s University announced
the permanent appointment of Timothy Trainor as president of the university.
Trainor, who has been serving in an interim capacity for the past year, was the
unanimous selection of both the board of trustees and the cross-campus
selection committee.
“Since his appointment
last summer, Tim and his wife, Donna, have become true members of our Mount
family,” said Board Chair Mary D. Kane, C’84, in announcing the appointment at
this weekend’s Alumni Reunion. “Tim has harnessed the energy of all of those
who love the Mount to build remarkable forward momentum for the university. He
has helped to improve trust, build community and enhance communication across
the campus. On behalf of the board, I’m thrilled to make Tim’s appointment
permanent and pledge that he will have the board’s continued support as we work
together to chart a course for the Mount.”
“The permanent appointment
of President Trainor is great news for Mount St. Mary’s and builds upon the
momentum that began with his arrival last year,” said Baltimore Archbishop
William E. Lori, who is also a university board member and chancellor of Mount
St. Mary’s Seminary. “In his time serving in an interim capacity, President
Trainor’s leadership has brought a renewed energy and collaboration within the
entire Mount community that has positioned the university on a course for
growth and success.”
“From the moment we first
visited campus, Donna and I could feel the warmth and strength of this community,”
said Trainor. “The Mount is a special place and having had the opportunity to
work closely with colleagues over the last year, I know the university’s future
is bright. Together, we’ve tackled challenges and worked hard to have the kind
of community, rich in Catholic values, that enables our students to develop
into the next leaders of our society. It’s an honor to receive this vote of
confidence from the university and the board, and to know that our work
together will continue.”
During Trainor’s tenure as interim president, he has focused the
community on keeping students at the center of everything the Mount does and on
a list of shared priorities while developing a new strategic plan. He has also
overseen improvements in enrollment, which are poised to be among the largest
in Mount history, with the incoming freshman class expected to top 500 students
(a 24 percent increase over last year). In addition, the freshman-to-sophomore
retention rate is likely to be the highest in years at greater than 80 percent.
Trainor has also launched a capital campaign, Forward! Together As One, with a
goal to raise $30 million.
Academic achievements this past year include three new academic
programs, new academic leadership, an articulation agreement with Frederick Community
College, the three student Fulbright award winners, and securing a $1 million
donation to create the Palmieri Center for Entrepreneurship and hiring its new
director. Outside the classroom, Trainor approved efforts to elevate the
women’s rugby program to a varsity level sport, the return of varsity men’s
soccer, and expansion of rosters for several existing Division I teams.
Prior to joining the Mount in August 2016, Trainor served a
33-year-career in the Army, retiring as a Brigadier General, with his final six
years as dean of the Academic Board at the United States Military Academy, West
Point, N.Y. In this role, he was the chief academic officer, leading more than
800 faculty and staff across 13 departments and 23 centers that provide a core
curriculum and 40 different majors in engineering, basic sciences, math,
humanities and social sciences to 4,400 students. U.S. News & World Report ranks West Point as one of the top 25
National Liberal Arts Colleges in the nation.
As chief academic officer, he was also responsible for governance
and planning in regard to faculty, curriculum, accreditation, master planning,
athletics and class committees. He has published extensively on innovative
leadership, systems engineering, operations research, and decision-making. He
also has broad experience in strategic planning, outreach to alumni, and
involvement with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education as an
evaluation team chair. He also played a role in supporting the recent
successful West Point capital campaign.
Prior to his appointment as dean of the Academic Board, Trainor
spent four years a professor and head of the Department of Systems Engineering
and three years as director of the Engineering Management Program, both at West
Point.
Trainor earned his doctorate in industrial engineering from North
Carolina State University, a master’s in business from the Fuqua School of
Business at Duke University and a bachelor’s from the United States Military Academy. He
and his wife, Colonel (Retired) Donna Brazil, are the parents of three
children: Cory, Daniel and Zachary.