Seton Hill University’s Board of Trustees overwhelmingly elected Mary C. Finger Ed.D. as Seton Hill’s Tenth President. Finger began her tenure on June 1, 2014.

Mary Finger came to Seton Hill following nine years of service as Senior Vice President for Advancement at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.  She led and implemented the institution’s first comprehensive capital campaign, Many Dreams, One Mission. The campaign, which concluded in June 2014, raised $333 million, far surpassing the initial $250 million goal. During her tenure, Finger managed the integration of DePaul’s alumni relations, alumni communications and fundraising operations into a robust advancement program. In addition, she served as a member of the six-member President’s Cabinet that oversaw operations of the university. Finger co-chaired the Task Force on Innovation that created processes for developing and evaluating new academic programs at DePaul and examined alternative instructional and delivery methods.  

As part of DePaul’s strategic planning process, Finger served on the Financial Planning/Business Sustainability Task Forces responsible for providing long-term assessment and plans for institutional viability, enhancement of academic prominence, increased enrollment and retention, and successful fundraising initiatives. She chaired DePaul’s Affinity Task Force that developed new programs to deepen student engagement with the university as well.

Prior to her position at DePaul, Mary Finger served as Vice President for Planning and Institutional Advancement at Mount Mary University, formerly Mount Mary College, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; as Director of Development for the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois; as Acting Executive Director of the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee Foundation and also as Director of Development at that same institution; and as Director of Annual Fund and Alumni Relations at Cardinal Stritch University, formerly Cardinal Stritch College, in Milwaukee.  In her varied professional roles Finger has had responsibility for strategy development, enrollment marketing, fundraising, and town/gown relationships. 

Fluent in Spanish, Mary Finger also worked in the Bilingual Education Department, Milwaukee Public Schools, and worked, lived, and served as a volunteer in Bogota, Colombia, South America.  

A native of Chicago, Finger has an adult daughter living and working in Spain with her husband and two children.

Finger received a doctoral degree (Ed.D.) in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Arts degree from Mount Mary College and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University.

Michele Ridge, Seton Hill alumna and the University’s Board Chair said, “Mary Finger is well suited to lead Seton Hill through the next important stage in the University’s history. Throughout her career, she has proved herself a strategic thinker with a demonstrated commitment to Catholic education, philanthropy and civic engagement.  We are confident she will fulfill and articulate the mission and vision of the University in a compelling way to all Seton Hill constituencies.”

Sr. Catherine Meinert, Provincial Superior and President of the U.S. Province of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill and Vice Chair of the Seton Hill University Board of Trustees added, “The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, who founded the college and are still actively engaged in the life of the University, are pleased that Mary Finger will serve as the Tenth President of Seton Hill. We know she will continue to advance our identity, the legacy of our distinctive Setonian tradition, and in the words of Elizabeth Ann Seton, ‘help fit our students for the world in which they are destined to live.’ ”