Dr.Francine G. McNairy, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, has been selected to serve as the university’s next president.

The Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors chose Dr. McNairy to succeed retiring Millersville University President Joseph A. Caputo effective July 1. Dr. Caputo has led the institution since 1981, making him the longest currently serving president in the State System.

Chancellor Judy G. Hample called McNairy “an extremely talented educator and administrative leader prepared for and committed to continuing Millersville University’s achievements of excellence.”

“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Francine McNairy as the new president of Millersville University,” said Sue Walker, chair of the university’s Council of Trustees. “We as a council have had the pleasure of working with Dr. McNairy in the past. She knows the institution well and is respected by faculty, staff and students. She is committed to building on past accomplishments and to guiding the university in providing students with a top quality education and meeting the workforce needs of the state and the region.”

Dr. McNairy said she looks forward to assuming the Millersville University presidency.

“I am excited and honored about being selected to serve as the next president of Millersville University,” McNairy said. “This is a wonderful opportunity. I have been privileged to be a part of Millersville’s success over the past eight years and look forward to serving as president and helping guide the institution to even greater heights.”

Since coming to Millersville University in 1994, Dr. McNairy has guided the development of three strategic plans in the division of academic affairs and developed along with the faculty five new master’s programs, five new minors and one new associate degree.

Dr. McNairy coordinated a three-institutional faculty/administrative team that established the Virtual University to deliver programs via distance education. In cooperation with the Office of International Affairs, she helped add four new international institutional partners: London Metropolitan University, United Kingdom; Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile; Goeth Institut International, Germany; and ForoEuropeo College of Business, Spain.

She provided leadership, resources and support to establish collaborations and partnerships within the Lancaster region to address workforce development priorities and worked to establish partnerships between Millersville faculty and teachers within regional school districts to enhance relationships between the university and schools and the teaching and learning experiences for students at both.

Dr. McNairy is a member of the advisory board of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the American Association of Higher Education. She has authored numerous academic articles and has made more than four dozen presentations at meetings and conferences across the country.

She is a member of several community organizations, including the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Lancaster Board of Directors and Lancaster General Medical Group Board of Directors.

Dr. McNairy earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a master’s degree in group work and administration and a doctoral degree in speech and theatre arts, all from the University of Pittsburgh. She also attended the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.

She was hired as an assistant professor and counselor at Clarion University in 1973 and was promoted to associate professor in 1980. Two years later she was named coordinator of academic development and retention at Clarion, and, in 1983, was appointed dean of academic support services and assistant to the vice president for academic affairs.

She then moved on to West Chester University as associate vice president for academic affairs. While in that position, she spent four months as interim director of social equity and assistant to the vice chancellor for academic and student affairs in the Office of the Chancellor.

From August 1991 to August 1992, Dr. McNairy served as interim vice president for academic affairs at West Chester, during which time she also served as the university’s interim president. She was named associate provost in 1991, a position she held until moving on to Millersville as provost three years later.

Millersville is one of 14 universities that make up the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. It enrolls 7,650 full-time and part-time students and has more than 370 full- and part-time faculty.

Dr. Caputo, who announced last June his intention to retire this year, praised the choice of his successor.

“I am very pleased to learn that Dr. McNairy has been selected as the new President of Millersville University,” Dr. Caputo said. “It has been my great pleasure to work with her for the last eight years. I am confident she will be well received by the faculty, students, and staff of the university and that she will serve the university and surrounding community with integrity and affectionate dedication.”

With more than 101,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 360,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.