Marcy, Rosenberg to Serve as 2021–22 Presidents in Residence

Dominican University of California President Emerita Mary Marcy will be joining Harvard Graduate School of Education as the 2021–22 president in residence. She will share the title with Brian Rosenberg, president emeritus of Macalester College, who began his tenure as president in residence during the 2020–21 school year. 

“Marcy’s transformational work at Dominican University over the past decade, along with her creative and thoughtful insights about the field of postsecondary education, will benefit our students in the Higher Education Concentration tremendously,” says Senior Lecturer Francesca Purcell, inaugural co-director, with Lecturer Alexis Redding, of the Higher Education (HE) Concentration at HGSE. 

As presidents in residence, Marcy and Rosenberg will join the incoming and returning Higher Education cohorts where they will serve as presenters, discussion partners, and advisers. Their joint contributions will help students anchor their academic discussions to real-world experience, as well as prepare students for impactful careers in post-secondary education after HGSE. 

Marcy, who previously came to HGSE in fall 2018 as a visiting scholar, is an experienced college president whose transformational leadership at the Dominican University of California shepherded the university through a decade of growth. While there, she pioneered the “Dominican Experience,” a comprehensive framework for student learning and success at the college level. Her initiatives to promote student diversity and career preparation led to increased graduation and retention rates at the college. Prior to serving as the president at Dominican, Marcy served as the provost and vice president of Bard College at Simon’s Rock, a residential early college in western Massachusetts. 

“It is an honor to receive this special appointment from the Harvard Graduate School of Education,” says Marcy. “I look forward to mentoring a new generation of higher education leaders, and to think together about the future. And, it will be a privilege to draw from my own experiences of leading the Dominican campus, a community that has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to student success in college, life, and career.”

Beginning his time at HGSE during the unprecedented year of remote learning, Rosenberg, who has written extensively on the politics of higher education, became a much-loved teacher and mentor to the Higher Education cohort. “Brian’s weekly ‘contemplations,’ informal meetings with students, and his classes made him an indispensable part of the student learning experience,” says Purcell. “I am grateful that more students will have the opportunity to learn with and be inspired by him.”  In addition to his president-in-residence responsibilities, Rosenberg will be teaching a class on ethical questions in higher education in the fall and another class on transformational models of higher education in the spring.  

Rosenberg and Marcy are HGSE’s 20th and 21st presidents in residence, respectively. Due to changes in student enrollment related to the pandemic, they will be the first presidents in residence to serve together in one year. 

“Mary and Brian will combine to add dynamic and penetrating analysis to the study of higher education at HGSE,” says Purcell. “We’re going to have a great year.”