{"id":27,"date":"2019-06-17T15:02:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T15:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:31:34","slug":"biography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrick F. Leahy, Ed.D. Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy joined Monmouth University as president on August 1, 2019. He was unanimously selected by the Board of Trustees and members of the Presidential Search Committee following a comprehensive nationwide search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently recognized by New Jersey\u2019s leading business publication as one of the top 140 executives in the state, Leahy has navigated Monmouth through a global pandemic; implemented an ambitious five-year strategic plan\u2014”Excellence. Access. Ambition”\u2014to chart a course toward being a national leader at integrating academic excellence and student access; secured an invitation to join the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), one of the nation\u2019s leading mid-major Division I conferences; signed a comprehensive strategic partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health, the region\u2019s leading healthcare provider; and launched a major capital campaign which aims to raise $175 million<\/a> in support of the strategic plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As chair of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, Leahy has announced plans to build a $48 million, 30,000-square-foot-building, designed to celebrate the history of American music, and has helped to launch the\u00a0American Music Honors<\/a>, a major fundraising event that brings legendary performers to campus, garnering international media coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his tenure, Monmouth University has welcomed its most diverse and academically prepared classes in the school\u2019s history, setting new year-over-year benchmarks in almost all enrollment measures. At the same time, more than 50% of the first-year class are FLI (first-generation and\/or low-income) students. Through this integration of excellence and access, Monmouth has reached its highest ever U.S. News & World Report ranking, climbing 15 places from 28 to 13 during his tenure, and a Social Mobility rank rocketing 54 spots since the measure was introduced in 2023. Recognition for Monmouth\u2019s upward academic trajectory has included reaching new benchmarks in the Wall Street Journal\/College Pulse roster of \u201cBest Colleges,\u201d and accolades in Washington Monthly\u2019s \u201cMaster\u2019s University\u201d and \u201cBest Bang for the Buck Colleges: Northeast\u201d lists; in Money magazine\u2019s \u201cBest Colleges for Your Money;\u201d in the Forbes list of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Top Colleges;\u201d and on Princeton Review\u2019s \u201cBest Colleges\u201d list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding graduate studies, Leahy has championed two new doctoral programs, including the Doctor of Occupational Therapy, which enrolled its first class in 2021, and the Doctor of Social Work in Human Rights Leadership, which welcomed its first cohort in 2023. The University now boasts four doctoral programs and was recently categorized by the Carnegie Classification as a research college and university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leahy has also made investment in student-facing campus facilities a priority, with recent examples including: Nagy Common; the Intercultural Center; the Linda Grunin Simulation Lab and Learning Center, a joint partnership between Monmouth University and Monmouth Medical Center, at the Monmouth Graduate Center; five new state-of-the-art Occupational Therapy Laboratories; the Parton Broadcasting Center, located on the second floor of the OceanFirst Bank Center; and the new Center for Entrepreneurship, located within the Leon Hess Business School in Bey Hall. In addition, Leahy has transformed the University\u2019s marquee building\u2014the Great Hall\u2014into a welcoming, vibrant, student-friendly space, which includes the construction of the Parson Caf\u00e9 and renovations designed to replicate the reading rooms of our nation\u2019s most historic libraries. Despite the significant investment in the campus, the University\u2019s long-term outstanding debt was reduced to zero over this time. The University aims to invest an additional $110 million in the campus over the next three years, keeping its long-term debt to a bare minimum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leahy has prioritized investments in the University that meet the changing needs of its increasingly diverse student population. With the full support of the Board of Trustees, the University removed Woodrow Wilson\u2019s name from its signature administrative center, expanded and relocated the Intercultural Center into the heart of campus, and established a permanently endowed Diversity Initiatives Fund, with an initial allocation of $3 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His external leadership positions include serving as the vice chair of the Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey (ICUNJ) and as a member of the Executive Committee for the Coastal Athletic Association. In recent years, he has served a two-year term as a board member for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), as a member of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy\u2019s Higher Education Restart Advisory Group, and as vice chair of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference before joining the CAA in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leahy has been recognized on the \u201cROI-NJ\u201d Higher Ed Presidents Honor Roll for three consecutive years, on the \u201cROI-NJ\u201d Influencer list, and for several years on the \u201cNJBIZ\u201d Power 50 Education list. Leahy was named a top 50 leader in Higher Education by The National Diversity Council at the 17th Annual National Diversity & Leadership Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to joining Monmouth, Leahy served a successful seven-year term as president of Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. At Wilkes, Leahy was instrumental in the development of the \u201cGateway to the Future Strategic Plan,\u201d which included: the introduction of 20 new academic programs and the university\u2019s first honors program; the launch of the university\u2019s first Ph.D. program; more than $100 million in transformative campus enhancements; and strategic investments in faculty scholarship and research. During his tenure, Wilkes earned the distinction of becoming a Doctoral\/Professional University under the Carnegie Classifications. He also led the introduction of seven new NCAA Division III athletic teams and the region\u2019s only collegiate marching band. Leahy routinely taught courses in the Sidhu School of Business & Leadership at Wilkes, earning the highest possible ratings from students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to his time at Wilkes, Leahy was a senior administrative leader at The University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He first served as vice president for university relations, successfully completing a $129 million comprehensive capital campaign. He was then promoted to executive vice president, where he was responsible for development, government relations, undergraduate and graduate enrollment, intercollegiate athletics, planning, and information technology. Leahy also taught in the Business Leadership Honors Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before moving to Scranton, Leahy was co-founder and president of the Business Affairs Forum, a 15,000-member distance learning community for alumni of the nation\u2019s MBA programs. He has also worked as an investment officer for a venture capital firm, as an account executive for a Fortune 500 company, and as a development officer for his undergraduate alma mater, Georgetown University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A native of Towson, Maryland, Leahy holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in English literature from Georgetown University, where he spent his junior year abroad at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland. He earned two master\u2019s degrees from Cornell University in business administration and in labor relations, where he was both a Fried Fellow and a CEED Fellow\u2014the latter of which affording him the opportunity to live and work for an extended period in Moscow, Russia. In 2009, he earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Pennsylvania, focusing his dissertation research on organizational change in higher education. Leahy and his wife, Amy, have four children: Grace, Molly, Jack, and Brian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_mu_eop_enabled":false,"_mu_eop_name":"","_mu_eop_name_override":false,"_mu_eop_description":"","_mu_eop_description_override":false,"_mu_eop_url":"","_mu_eop_url_override":false,"_mu_eop_program_type":"","_mu_eop_educational_credential":"","_mu_eop_time_to_complete":"","_mu_eop_number_of_credits":"","_mu_eop_occupational_category":"","_mu_eop_occupational_category_code":"","_mu_eop_program_prerequisites":"","_mu_eop_application_deadline":"","_mu_eop_application_start_date":"","_mu_eop_start_date":"","_mu_eop_end_date":"","_mu_eop_day_of_week":"","_mu_eop_time_of_day":"","_mu_eop_educational_program_mode":"","_mu_eop_financial_aid_eligible":"","_mu_eop_maximum_enrollment":"","_mu_eop_offers_price":"","_mu_eop_offers_currency":"USD","_mu_eop_offers_price_per":"","_mu_eop_offers_preset":"","_mu_eop_salary_upon_completion":"","_mu_eop_training_salary":"","_mu_eop_recognized_by_name":"","_mu_eop_recognized_by_url":"","_mu_eop_concentrations":"","_mu_eop_identifier_cip":"","_mu_eop_provider_name":"","_mu_eop_provider_name_override":false,"_mu_eop_provider_url":"","_mu_eop_provider_address":"","_mu_eop_provider_city":"","_mu_eop_provider_state":"","_mu_eop_provider_zip":"","_mu_eop_provider_country":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3824,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/3824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}