ALBANY, NY—Maria College’s Board of Trustees Chair, Joseph G. Salamack III announced Thomas J. Gamble, Ph.D. will be the College’s interim president. He will fulfill the presidential duties pending the completion of what is expected to be a 12 to 15 month national search for the College’s 5th President.
“We are fortunate that Dr. Gamble has agreed to serve Maria College as interim president,” Salamack stated. “He will provide leadership in key initiatives such as the expansion of the College’s new bachelor’s degree majors and guiding the strategic planning process which is a top priority for the Board.”
“The decision to select Dr. Gamble as the interim president was rooted in a profile document that contained the desired qualifications for the role,” says Gail Waring ’63, RSM and Chair of the Interim President Search Committee. “Dr. Gamble has the talents and skills aligned with those qualities and came highly recommended by The Registry for College and University Presidents.”
Gamble received his Ph.D. from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and completed his post-doctoral studies at Yale University. He comes to Maria after a decade of distinguished service as the president of Mercyhurst University in Erie Pennsylvania. Mercyhurst and Maria are part of the Conference for Mercy Higher Education; sixteen colleges and universities in the United States sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.
His achievements at Mercyhurst include the transition of Mercyhurst College to Mercyhurst University; establishment of an international academic center in Dungarvan, Ireland; construction of the $15 million Warde residence hall; the construction of the $10.5 million Center for Academic Engagement, which houses the nationally acclaimed Tom Ridge School of Intelligence Studies and Information Sciences at Mercyhurst. Over $45 million dollars was raised during his presidency.
Also during his tenure, Mercyhurst developed five new graduate programs, including the university’s first doctoral program in Archaeology, the Master’s programs in Applied Behavior Analysis, Physician Assistant Studies, Data Science, and Secondary Education. He was also instrumental in starting and growing on-line education at Mercyhurst.
To enhance the Mercy mission of the university, Gamble created the Center for Mercy and Catholic Studies with an undergraduate minor in Catholic Studies and led the restoration of Christ the King Chapel, Gamble also secured for Mercyhurst the opportunity to co-host the archives of the internationally known religious leader, Sr. Joan D. Chittister, OSB.
In addition, the Gamble administration established the urban education initiatives at the Booker T. Washington Center and the Carpe Diem Academy, which deliver educational opportunities to underrepresented, largely minority citizens in Erie’s inner city. He also helped found the Multicultural Center at Mercyhurst and the Autism/Asperger Initiative at Mercyhurst (AIM) to meet the unique needs of the growing population of college-bound students on the autism spectrum.
Dr. Thomas Gamble stated, “I am very pleased to have this opportunity to serve and further the mission of Maria College. For over fifty years Maria has been meeting the needs of employers in the capital region, but even more so for serving a very diverse group of students. The Mercy commitment to providing opportunity education is alive and well at Maria and I’m eager to get started and do my part to make a difference.”
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About Maria College
Maria College is a baccalaureate nonprofit, independent, co-educational institution, founded in 1958 by the Sisters of Mercy, and is one of 16 colleges and universities in the United States sponsored by the Conference for Mercy Higher Education. The College serves traditional and non-traditional students.