The president of Mount Mary University in Milwaukee will step down next spring, the school announced Thursday.
Eileen Schwalbach has led Mount Mary since 2009, and has worked at the university for 23 years.
“For me personally, I’m at the end of a long career in education and I think this is a good time for me to become a community volunteer,” Schwalbach said. “I’m taking things one step at a time, but I know that opportunities will emerge for me as we get closer to that date. I know I want to do something in urban education.”
While she was president, Schwalbach changed the school’s name from Mount Mary College to Mount Mary University, and made certain program changes, such as adding the school’s first two doctorate programs in art therapy and occupational therapy as well as a nursing leadership program. She also oversaw several campus renovation projects.
“President Schwalbach has been an outstanding leader for Mount Mary University,” said Sister Mary Anne Owens, provincial leader of Central Pacific Province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Mount Mary’s sponsoring organization, in a prepared statement. “She has devoted her heart and soul to this institution, and her deep respect for faculty, administration, staff and students is obvious. She has worked to lift them up in every way she can. That commitment is so very much a part of the SSND educational philosophy and she has always seen it as a sacred trust.”
After she resigns, Schwalbach plans to remain involved with the university in some way, but said it’s up to her replacement to decide what her role in the future will be.
Schwalbach will remain president through the 2016-17 academic year and will assist the university in selecting her successor.
