Chestnut Hill College names first lay president in its nearly 100-year history

Chestnut Hill College on Wednesday named its first man and first lay president in its nearly century-long history — a vice president at Mercy College’s Bronx campus.

William W. Latimer, an infectious-disease epidemiologist, will on July 1 replace Sister Carol Jean Vale, who for 30 years has led the college, founded in 1924 by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia. Sister Carol is the longest-serving college president in the region and one of the longest serving in the nation. She announced she would retire a year ago.

“Dr. Latimer has roots grounded in the liberal arts having been drawn particularly to colleges that have served minority students as a fundamental belief to provide greater access to higher education,” leaders of the board of trustees said in an announcement to the college community.

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Latimer, 58, said that the value of the 1,600-student college is in its Catholic heritage and that the college would “lean into that value going forward.”

In a message to faculty and students, Latimer said he would focus on enrollment, diversifying college income, and enhancing the college’s brand. He also would look to increase “diversity and inclusion across every facet of the College as an extension of the mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.”

Like many other small colleges, Chestnut Hill has struggled with finances in recent years, made worse by the pandemic.

A native of Schenectady, N.Y., Latimer has a bachelor’s in English and psychology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Rhode Island, and a master’s in public health in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.

Latimer previously worked at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, Lehman College, the University of Florida, and the University of Minnesota. He also served as president of the College of New Rochelle for a year before it was taken over by Mercy College, which he then joined. Mercy College, with an enrollment of 12,000 students, has four campuses in New York.

A Catholic, Latimer is married to Maria R. Khan, an associate professor in the department of population health at New York University. They have three school-age daughters.