The Mount St. Mary’s University Board of Trustees voted at its June 10 meeting to name Timothy E. Trainor, Ph.D, president emeritus of the university upon his retirement on June 30. President-elect Gerard J. Joyce, Ph.D., takes office as the Mount’s 27th president on July 1.
The unanimous vote, taken during Trainor’s final meeting as the Mount’s president, was followed by a standing ovation. Trainor thanked the board for the honor of being named president emeritus. During the university’s commencement exercises in May, Trainor not only gave the commencement address but also received a doctorate of humane letters in recognition of his service to the university and the local, national and global communities.
“I want to thank our board of trustees for presenting me with an honorary degree,” said Trainor during the commencement ceremony. “Moreso, I want to thank our board for entrusting me with the privilege to serve as the 26th president of Mount St. Mary’s University. I will forever be grateful. I also want to thank our faculty, staff, and administrators for your support and counsel over these past eight years. It has been an honor to serve our students together side by side as we carried out our mission. And I want to thank our students…over my time at the Mount for making this job fun! You are awesome!”
Trainor is only the third president in the university’s 216-year history to be named president emeritus. The others were George Houston, who served as president from 1994 to 2003, and Thomas H. Powell, Ed.D., whose 12-year tenure ended in 2015, according to Board Chair Gracelyn McDermott, C’93.
President Trainor’s major accomplishments include leading the university through two destabilizing periods (the leadership crisis that brought him to the Mount and the COVID-19 pandemic), the establishment of a school of health professions, the addition of new STEM and interdisciplinary majors, expansion of athletics, 12% growth in enrollment, strong strategic partnerships, growth of Mount St. Mary’s University to become the largest Catholic seminary in the country, stewardship of the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Blessed Virgin Mary statue, and the addition of an urgent care facility on the Mount’s campus that also serves Northern Frederick County.
A citation, read before the vote to grant president emeritus status, mentioned all the accomplishments above as well as Trainor’s emphasis on student success through academic support services, investment in living and learning spaces, and expanding and renovating the university’s two largest academic facilities as well as work on creating an even more welcoming culture. “Dr. Trainor created a culture that draws on the goodness of the university’s Catholic identity and works to ensure a sense of belonging for all the university’s students and employees through recognizing the unique qualities and the inherent dignity every individual brings to the community,” the citation reads.
Before coming to the Mount, Trainor retired from a 33-year career in the U.S. Army as a brigadier general who served as dean and chief academic officer at the United States Military Academy.
