SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — The Shepherd University Board of Governors has selected Dr. Mary J.C. Hendrix as the university’s 16th president.
Hendrix, a 1974 alumna of Shepherd, will be the first graduate to serve as president in the school’s 144-year history.
She is currently president and chief scientific officer of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago’s Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Hendrix was among nearly 100 applicants for the position vacated by Dr. Suzanne Shipley earlier this year.
Hendrix is a Shepherdstown native and proud to be coming home.
“I am extremely honored to have been selected for this extraordinary new role,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix plans to bring stakeholders together to help move the Shepherd forward, she said.
“I want people to know where Shepherd University is. I want them to know how they might be able to help us,” she said.
Hendrix visited campus Nov. 3 as one of four finalists for the position.
Hendrix’s background made her stand out from the crowd, Shepherd Presidential Search Committee Chair Marcia Brand said.
“She’s been in liberal arts. She’s been in the sciences and technology. She’s been in administration. She’s been in fundraising. She’s been in community outreach and she’s really been at the national advocacy level,” Brand said. “I think that will help her advance at Shepherd.”
Brand said that while they are proud of Hendrix status as an alumna, but that was not the reason she was selected.
“She’s the right person for Shepherd at the right time,” Brand said. ‘She’s really got the skill set that we need.”
The Shepherdstown native gets to work on Feb. 29, 2016.
The selection still needs final approval from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.