Dr. Marie Angelella George Named Next President of Cabrini College

RADNOR, Pa., March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Marie Angelella George, Ph.D., has been selected to be the seventh president of Cabrini College. George, with a distinguished career in higher education and healthcare, will succeed Antoinette Iadarola, Ph.D., who is retiring after 16 years as president.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080310/DC16216 )

"As we celebrate the College's 50th anniversary, I am proud to announce that Dr. Marie George will be the next president of Cabrini College," said Theresa Cavanaugh '74, chair of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. "Her enthusiasm for this position and for the College's mission, coupled with her expertise in higher education and background in fundraising, make her the perfect fit to lead Cabrini.

"Our goal is to be one of the best Catholic, coeducational colleges in the Philadelphia region and beyond ... and I am confident about achieving this goal under Dr. George's leadership," Cavanaugh continued. "This is an exciting time for Cabrini, and we are fortunate to have someone as talented as Marie George to build on the achievements of those who have served the College so well over the past half-century."

George was selected by a unanimous vote of the College's trustees, following a national search and extensive interviews by a 13-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee representative of trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, students, and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSCs) who sponsor the College.

"It is an extraordinary honor to be named president of Cabrini College," said George. "I look forward to joining the dedicated faculty, staff and students at Cabrini, a values-driven college with a firm grasp of its mission to provide the 'education of the heart' envisioned by Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini more than a century ago."

Since 2003, George has served as executive vice president at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. At Saint Anselm, a Catholic, coeducational college founded by the Benedictine order, she is chief operating officer and second-in-command to the president. George oversees six vice presidents and the directors of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Campus Ministry. An experienced strategic planner, George's five years at Saint Anselm achieved impressive results in implementing their strategic plan, Aspirations in Liberal Arts Education, and in leading a campus master planning process for Saint Anselm's 400-acre, 60+ building campus.

George's career in academia spans more than three decades. As vice president and director of planning and institutional effectiveness at the University of Scranton, she participated in academic and administrative policy-making groups and served on Board of Trustees committees on Academic Policy, Finance, Investment and Facilities. She developed the university's first collaborative strategic planning process, and in 1998 during a time of presidential transition she helped finalize a 20-year Campus Master Plan. George also served on the faculty at King's College.

"In my visit to Cabrini, I saw a college with a legacy passed down from [College founder] Mother Ursula Infante, a legacy of instilling in students intellectual competency and moral and social responsibility," said George. "I also saw a college with a vision to achieve the goals set out in the Strategic Agenda. We will reach these goals by continuing to engage students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, community members, and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus." Cabrini College last year began implementation of a five-year Strategic Agenda that will serve as the foundation for the College's operational planning through 2012.

George has extensive experience in fundraising, most notably at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; the University of Scranton; and Saint Anselm. In 2002-03, she co-chaired the $3.2 million Annual Fund at the University of Scranton and currently is developing a feasibility study for Saint Anselm's next campaign goal of $100 million.

"I am so pleased that the trustees have selected Dr. George, who has done it all, to succeed me as president of Cabrini College," said President Iadarola. "This college has gone from good to great, and we have confidence that under Dr. George's leadership, Cabrini will achieve even greater levels of institutional excellence."

Throughout her career in academia, George has demonstrated facility in executing partnerships both within and beyond the borders of campus communities. At Saint Anselm, her work helped to secure both private and federal support for new initiatives in civic education and community service including the establishment of the Civic Leadership Academy at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics; the English for New Americans Program at the Meelia Center for Community Service; and the launch of Learning Liberty, a curricular and co-curricular initiative for issues related to preparing students for lives of enlightened and engaged citizenship.

George earned a doctorate in organizational leadership at the University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree in counseling at the University of Scranton, and a bachelor's degree in mathematics at College Misericordia in Dallas, Pa. George is married to Francis J. George Sr., who prior to his retirement from Nabisco/Kraft Foods was a computer analyst and is currently President of FJG Web Design. They have one son, Francis Jr., who resides in New Hampshire with his wife Selena.

During Iadarola's tenure, Cabrini College expanded its academic offerings, constructed state-of-the-art facilities, and raised its regional and national profile. Iadarola also raised more than $100 million for capital improvements, and helped increase Cabrini's endowment and reserves from $3 million to $30 million, and the annual operating budget from $12.3 million to more than $60 million.

The president-designate will take office in July, with a formal inauguration to be scheduled in the fall.

About Cabrini College

Students do extraordinary things at Cabrini College in Radnor, Pa., a residential Catholic college currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Cabrini serves 3,100 men and women in undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studies. Cabrini's serene 112-acre campus is 30 minutes from Philadelphia, and the College offers graduate programs at 15 satellite locations. Nationally, Cabrini was among the first in higher education to implement community service into the core curriculum. Founded in 1957 by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC), Cabrini College provides an "education of the heart," integrating intellectual competency with moral and social responsibility. Visit the College's Web site at www.cabrini.edu.