Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy Reflects On Seven Years Leading the University
By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13
Ask Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy how he would like to be remembered at the University and a wry smile crosses his face.
“It’s a humbling to think that people would remember me at all,” Leahy quips.
His self-effacing comment doesn’t accurately reflect the many accomplishments during his seven-year tenure as president. When Leahy announced that he will leave Wilkes at the end of July 2019 to become president of Monmouth University, a private University on the north Jersey shore, it offered a chance for faculty, staff and alumni to note the many milestones at Wilkes under his leadership.
The timeline on these pages highlights, year by year, achievements reached during the Leahy presidency. They include more than $100 million in campus improvements, the establishment of an honors program, the introduction of 25 new academic majors, the launch of a $1 million faculty research and scholarship fund and the start of Wilkes’ first Ph.D. program in the Passan School of Nursing, Wilkes’ fifth terminal degree. Perhaps the most significant moment came in January 2019, when Wilkes achieved doctoral university status, placing it among the nation’s most prestigious institutions.
Wilkes magazine sat down with Leahy to reflect on his years leading Wilkes. In the following question-and-answer session, he talks about his fondest memories.
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