Mobile-based Spring Hill College will start the next year by establishing a bit of school history. For the first time in the school’s 192-year history, a woman will serve as a president.

Mary H. Van Brunt, the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Gwynedd Mercy University in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, will become the 39th president of Spring Hill College beginning in January.

She was selected following what was described by a college official as an “extensive, national presidential search for the most qualified leader to fulfill and sustain its Jesuit Catholic mission.”

“I look forward to connecting with the Spring Hill community and carrying out the centuries-old Jesuit tradition of caring for the intellectual, spiritual, and social growth of our future servant leaders,” Van Brunt said in a statement provided by the college.

Spring Hill, founded in 1830, is the oldest Catholic college in the Southeast and the third oldest Jesuit college in the U.S.

“The mission coupled with the liberal arts education resonates with me and aligns with my Catholic faith and personal values,” Van Brunt said.

Van Brunt replaces E. Joseph Lee II, the current school president who is retiring in December. He began his tenure in August 2018.

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Avenue of the Oaks

Jack McKinney, chairman of the Spring Hill College board of trustees, said that Lee led the institution through the COVID-19 pandemic, helped the college develop new and award-winning academic majors and “strengthened community partnerships with the military, local businesses and schools.”

Van Brunt arrives to the school with over 20 years of leadership experience in Catholic high education. She has spent over four years in her current position, and nearly 17 years as the Founding Dean of the School of Business, Arts and Media at Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

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She was also an awards-winning economics professor who received the NCES/AEFA New Scholar Dissertation Award, the Warren York Fellowship and the Charles R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Van Brunt has also been inducted into several honor societies including Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars, Beta Sigma Gamma Honor Society, and the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Catholic Honor Society.

She is a published author, consultant, certified business professor, and prior certified management accountant.

Van Brunt earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania; a Master of Business Administration in Accounting from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia; and a PhD in Economics from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

In her spare time, Van Brunt enjoys swimming, kayaking, traveling abroad, and spending time with her six adult children, family and friends. She is relocating to Mobile with her husband, Chris, and their dog, Stella.