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Katie Conboy, Ph.D. serves as the 14th president in the College’s 176-year history. She comes to Saint Mary’s with more than three decades of experience in Catholic higher education, the liberal arts, and women’s colleges. An imaginative and energetic leader, her enthusiasm for this role is fueled by her understanding of the College’s rich historical identity and enduring focus on innovation. Conboy began her tenure on June 1, 2020.

Previously, Conboy served as the Provost and Senior Vice President at Simmons University, a women’s college in Boston, from 2013 until 2020. Prior to Simmons, she was at Stonehill College, a Holy Cross institution in North Easton, Massachusetts, where she served first as a professor of English literature, then as Provost. Conboy earned her PhD in English literature from the University of Notre Dame in 1986, and her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas in 1981.

As a faculty member, Conboy was an award-winning teacher and an active scholar. She co-edited the book Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and Feminist Theory (Columbia University Press, 1997), and is the author of scholarly articles on British and American fiction, Irish literature and feminist theory. As an administrator, she has continued to be a life-long learner, completing the Advanced Management Program at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and the Non-Profit Financial Stewardship Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.