Carthage College president Gregory Woodward has been hired to lead the University of Hartford in Connecticut.
Woodward will step down from his current position at the end of the 2016-’17 academic year and assume his new role as president of the University of Hartford on July 1.
Woodward has been president of Carthage College since 2012. During his five-year tenure, he oversaw the creation of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program and a master of science in business design and innovation program. He also oversaw construction of the school’s $43 million Science Center and recently helped secure a $15 million donation to build a career and welcome center.
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve as the president of Carthage, and I am tremendously proud of what we have accomplished together over the past five years,” Woodward said in a statement released Wednesday. “It will be extremely hard to leave this great college and so many good friends and colleagues.”
Woodward said he decided to take the job as president of the University of Hartford because it was a unique professional opportunity and it would allow him and his wife, Penny, to be closer to members of their extended family who live on the East Coast.
The University of Hartford, founded in 1957, is located on a 350-acre campus in West Hartford, Connecticut, and enrolls approximately 5,000 undergraduate students and 1,600 graduate students. Carthage College, founded in 1847, is located on a 90-acre campus in Kenosha on the shore of Lake Michigan and enrolls 2,600 full-time undergraduate students.
“Since Woodward took office in 2012, Carthage has enjoyed the highest retention and graduation rates in its history, received its largest philanthropic gifts, enrolled the highest number of students from underrepresented groups and funded its largest-ever endowment,” Carthage College representatives wrote in a statement announcing Woodward’s departure.
The Carthage board of trustees said it will begin searching for Woodward’s replacement “soon,” but did not provide a specific timeline.
“We will truly miss Greg’s creative mind and sincere commitment to student-centered education,” said Jeff Hamar, first vice chair of the board of trustees. “His insightful leadership has left Carthage in an enviable position.”
