The University of Maryland Board of Regents on Wednesday appointed Gregory Fowler as the new president for The University of Maryland Global Campus. He will begin his term on Jan. 4.
Fowler has been the president of Southern New Hampshire University Global Campus since 2018, and he was the chief academic officer and vice president for academic affairs for the institution years prior.
While Fowler was president, SNHU partnered with the Thurgood Marshall Fund, the Kresge Foundation and Delaware State University to create a program using online education for “near-completers,” or students who started a degree but did not finish, at historically black colleges and universities. He has also helped more military and industry-certified students access academic credit.
“All of us are deeply impressed with Dr. Fowler’s scholarship and his talents as a strategic and creative thinker,” USM Chancellor Jay Perman said in a statement. “[Southern New Hampshire University Global Campus] is recognized as a pioneer in online higher education, and there’s no doubt that Dr. Fowler has contributed greatly to that innovation.”
In July, UMGC President Javier Miyares announced his retirement after eight years as president, and the regents began to search for his replacement in September. Miyares will assume a new role as an adviser to Perman about how the University System of Maryland can best utilize distance learning during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawrence E. Leak has been UMGC’s interim president since Miyares announced his retirement.
“I also thank Dr. Larry Leak for his service as interim president,” Perman’s statement continued. “Dr. Leak’s deep knowledge of UMGC and his energetic leadership have provided stability and momentum throughout the search process, and I’m delighted he’s agreed to stay on at UMGC temporarily to advise throughout the presidential transition.”
UMGC is a fully online university that offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees to adult learners who may be preoccupied with jobs, families and military service.
Fowler’s 25 years of experience in higher education management include teaching at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at Freie Universität-Berlin and a position as the chief academic officer and vice president of academic affairs at Hesser College.
He is also currently a board member and commissioner for the New England Commission of Higher Education.
“I am honored and humbled to be selected as the next president of the University of Maryland Global Campus,” Fowler said in a statement. “I have always admired the institution’s mission and success in transforming the lives of adult learners. I look forward to joining the UMGC team as well as being part of the larger team that is the University System of Maryland.”
Elizabeth Shwe
Reporter
Elizabeth Shwe was a Report for America corps member at Maryland Matters through May 2022. She previously covered California state politics during an internship at The Sacramento Bee. She is a 2020 graduate of Princeton University with a degree in political science. At Princeton she was a producer for WPRB 103.3 FM News & Culture section, the station’s only long form podcast-type program. Shwe also wrote for The Daily Princetonian, and tutored with the Petey Greene Program, which offers free tutoring to incarcerated people.
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