MCPHS University announced today that Charles F. Monahan, Jr., its president since 1997, will retire effective January 15, 2020. Richard E. Griffin, MCPHS University Board of Trustees chair, wrote in a letter to the University community that “as the University approaches its 200th anniversary in 2023, the president believes this is the right time to choose the next president who will guide the University into its third century as a preeminent institution for health care education.”
Mr. Griffin also said that the Board of Trustees is charged with naming MCPHS University’s next president, the sixth president in the institution’s history. “While the Board of Trustees holds the ultimate responsibility for hiring the president, we need and value input from all members of our community,” Griffin said. “Between now and January 15, I will form and chair a Presidential Search Committee that will include other Trustees and representatives from all corners of the MCPHS community.”
Griffin noted Monahan’s many accomplishments, stating, “As a 1962 graduate of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, he began his career as a community pharmacist, building a successful chain of independent pharmacies in Worcester, Mass. The President served on our Board of Trustees for eighteen years, six of those years as Chairman. At the start of his presidency, the University was composed of 1,000 students (all but fifty studying pharmacy), one building in Boston, and approximately 190 faculty and staff.”
Griffin continued: “Over the last twenty-three years, President Monahan has led the transformation of MCPHS from a regional pharmacy college into a nationally ranked, world-class health care university with approximately 7,200 students from every state and more than 80 countries, 2,000 faculty and staff across three campuses, and more than 100 degree and certificate programs in health care.” Griffin also thanked Monahan and his wife, Lenny, “for their countless contributions and years of service.”
The Board of Trustees voted to appoint Richard J. Lessard to serve as Interim President, effective January 16, 2020, during the search for a new president. Mr. Lessard is currently the University’s Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer.