Troy Paino named as UMW’s 10th president

Published February 15, 2016 by Paula C. Squires

The University of Mary Washington University’s board of visitors has selected Troy D. Paino as the school’s 10th president, effective July 1.

Paino is currently president of Truman State University, Missouri’s designated public liberal arts and sciences university.

Paino has been president of Truman State since May 2010. The university, located in Kirksville, Mo., has 6,200 students and ranked as the No. 1 public university in the Midwest region by U.S. News & World Report.

Previously, Paino was Truman State’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. He also served as dean of Winona State University’s College of Liberal Arts in Minnesota.

“I am fully aware of UMW’s reputation for academic excellence and commitment to developing the qualities of mind and heart necessary for reflective citizenship,” Paino said in a statement.  “I am honored to have been selected to lead this great university forward in its critically important mission.”

Holly T. Cuellar, UMW rector and chair of the search advisory committee, said, “Troy Paino is a highly distinguished national leader who has taken an active role in speaking and writing about the future of higher education. His values resonate perfectly with Mary Washington’s fundamental principles of academic excellence and social uplift.”

Paino earned doctorate and master’s degrees in American studies from Michigan State University. He holds a law degree from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from Evangel University in Springfield, Mo.

His teaching and scholarly interests include American higher education, 20th-century cultural and social history and American legal history. He has written extensively on the history of American sports and published a book, “The Social History of the United States: 1960s,” in 2008.

Paino serves on the board of directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), and he is a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) President’s Trust for Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP).

He is president-elect of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), and he serves as treasurer of the Council on Public Higher Education in Missouri (COPHE).

He and his wife, Kelly, have two daughters.

The UMW board of visitors worked with the executive search firm Baker and Associates LLC to conduct the search and recruit a large pool of candidates.

The Board also appointed a 19-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee that included faculty, student, staff, alumni and board representatives.