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January 30, 2025

Quinnipiac University names new president

Contributed Marie Hardin

Quinnipiac University has named a dean at Penn State its 10th president.

Marie Hardin, who currently serves as dean of The Pennsylvania State University’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, will take over as president of the Hamden-based private college on July 1, the school announced.

She will replace President Judy Olian, who announced in August that she would be leaving Quinnipiac at the end of the current academic year. Olian led the school for seven years. 

Hardin was unanimously approved by Quinnipiac’s full board of trustees, the school said, adding that her appointment came “following an extensive and rigorous search process with input from a variety of constituencies, including an advisory committee composed of representatives from across campus.”
 
Hardin has served as dean of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications since 2014.
 
She led the college’s rebranding in 2017, after attracting a $30 million naming gift from alumnus Donald P. Bellisario and university support for a new media center that opened in 2020, Qunnipaic said. 

Under her leadership, the college’s endowment more than tripled, and total gifts to the college increased more than 50% in the past three years, Qunnipaic said.

"Quinnipiac University has always been ambitious in its vision,” said the school’s board of trustees chairman Chuck Saia, who is also a senior partner at Deloitte. “We sought an innovative leader who is energized by the opportunity to continue the university’s upward momentum and impact in higher education. Quinnipiac found the perfect match in Dr. Hardin, whose background positions her as an astute and forward-looking leader for Quinnipiac’s future.”
 
Hardin, a first-generation college graduate, said she was drawn to Quinnipiac University’s comprehensive programs and focus on career-readiness.
 
“Quinnipiac is truly a values-drive institution, with outstanding leadership and a faculty and staff who are committed to student success,” Hardin said. “... I love the energy, collaborative spirit, and work ethic that define QU.”
 
Hardin will join Quinnipiac University with her husband, Jerry Kammer, a retired Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She is an avid runner who has completed more than 30 marathons, Qunnipaic said.
 
Hardin earned her Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Georgia, and master’s in communication from Georgia State University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in theology from Ambassador University, Pasadena, Calif.
 
Quinnipiac said it used search firm Spencer Stuart.
 

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