A Tennessee state university president and former law professor and litigator has been named the 12th president of Mercy College.
Timothy L. Hall, president of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., will assume duties on the Dobbs Ferry campus May 13, Mercy College officials announced Thursday. He will replace Concetta M. Stewart, the college”™s interim president, who will return to her position as provost and vice president of academic affairs.
Stewart took over interim duties last July after Kimberly R. Cline resigned as Mercy president to become the first female president of Long Island University.
Edward B. Dunn, the former Mercy College board chairman who co-chaired the college”™s presidential search committee, in the announcement called Hall”™s “passion for student and faculty success” a hallmark of his professional career. Austin Peay under his leadership had significant increases in enrollment and funding and was named one of the Great Colleges to Work For in 2012 and 2013 by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Hall previously was associate provost at the University of Mississippi and executive director of a capital campaign to raise $50 million for a new law school facility there. He was a professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law and visiting professor at the University of Texas School of law, as well as a private-practice litigation associate and a judicial clerk to a U.S. Court of Appeals judge.
During his presidency, Austin Peay gained national attention for Degree Compass, a software program that uses predictive analytics to inform students and their faculty advisors about courses in which they are most likely to be successful. Hall in October testified before a U.S. Senate committee about steps the university has taken to help more students succeed.
Hall serves on the Industrial Development Board and the Economic Development Council for Clarksville and Montgomery County, Tenn.
The incoming Mercy president received a bachelor”™s degree in philosophy at the University of Houston, followed by graduate work at Rice University in the Department of Religious Studies. He earned his law degree at the University of Texas, where he served on the editorial board of the Texas Law Review.
“Mercy College”™s mission and commitment to student success will remain a priority for me,” Hall said in the announcement. “I look forward to collaborating with faculty, staff and students to continue the college”™s increasing stature and strength.”
