Chancellor Marty Meehan University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Marty Meehan is the second chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the 15th leader of the institution, founded in the 1890s as the Lowell Normal and Lowell Textile schools.
Since assuming the chancellorship on July 1, 2007, Meehan has propelled UMass Lowell forward by every important measure of higher education: academics, research, fundraising, globalization, recruitment, retention, diversity, campus life and engagement with the community. He also has overseen a spectacular renewal of the physical campus by acquiring and constructing new facilities and revamping existing ones.
“Higher education is the foundation of this country,” says Meehan, who graduated cum laude from UMass Lowell in 1978 with a degree in education and political science.
“What we do now, today, at this University, will decide whether we can retain educated, talented and motivated entrepreneurs, engineers, managers, teachers, artists, health professionals and civic leaders,” he says. “I feel passionately about UMass Lowell. It gave me the basis to do whatever I’ve been able to do with my life.”
Five years ago, Meehan brought to campus a razor-sharp and far-reaching vision of what UMass Lowell could become. Through inclusive decision-making, collaboration and consensus-building, he successfully challenged the campus community to join him in bringing that vision to reality.
Meehan and his leadership team established bold initiatives that have transformed the campus across all three mission points: teaching, research and community engagement. The University’s strategic plan UMass Lowell 2020 is the blueprint that has guided the campus toward national and international recognition as a world-class institution.
Enrollment has increased by a dramatic 37 percent over the past five years, and diversity of new undergraduate students has grown 76 percent over the same period. The average SAT of incoming freshmen is up 44 points over five years. Today, UMass Lowell has over 15,000 bright, energetic and motivated undergraduate and graduate students.
Freshman retention is increasing and UMass Lowell leads New England public research institutions in increasing the percentage of students who successfully complete their degrees.
All incoming freshmen are placed in learning communities and cooperative and internship programs have been expanded in the areas of engineering, science and management. One-hundred percent of the University’s classrooms have been upgraded with state-of-the-art technology and are now “smart classrooms.”
Additionally, new academic and recreational programs, a focus on interdisciplinary curricula and a surge in global academic and research partnerships have helped invigorate the campus and provide students with the tools they need to succeed in the classroom and in the workplace.
UMass Lowell has academic partnerships with more than 60 universities in 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North America and Australia. On campus, the international student community has been growing, with students from more than 50 countries represented.
Efforts to encourage more students to live on campus have resulted in three-quarters of all freshmen living in residence halls—a significant increase—which boosts their chances for academic success and helps build a vibrant campus life. Meehan’s goal of having 50 percent of all students living on campus will be exceeded within the next year when two new residence halls are opened.
Research expenditures in FY11 reached $60 million, a 66 percent increase in four years and a record for the University.
The campus has undergone a stunning physical transformation since Meehan became chancellor. In 2009, the University purchased an underused downtown hotel and converted it into the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, providing housing for 500 students as well as conference space and lodging for the community.
In 2010, the University acquired the 6,500-seat Tsongas Arena (now the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) and also assumed management of the UMass Lowell Bellegarde Boathouse, home to University, local and community rowing programs.
Two new academic buildings—the first in 35 years—are under construction. The Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center on North Campus will open in the fall of 2012 as the hub of industry partnerships and new manufacturing technologies. The Health and Social Science Building on South Campus will house classrooms and laboratories and will open early in 2013.
University Suites, a 472-bed residence hall, is under construction and will open in the fall of 2013, along with another new residence hall adjacent to South Campus.
One new parking garage is being built and another will start construction next year.
External validation proves that the campus is on the right track. UMass Lowell was rated a top-tier national university by U.S. News and World Report for the first time two years ago. In 2011, the campus advanced in the ranking of national universities from number 188 to 177 and is rated among the top 100 public universities nationwide.
Payscale.com says UMass Lowell graduates earn the highest mid-career median salary among public institutions in New England for two of the last three years.
UMass Lowell has been named for three years in a row, the last two “with distinction,” to President’s Obama’s Honor Roll for community service and community engagement, due to the many service learning and partnership initiatives.
Meehan has sought innovative and entrepreneurial means to obtain resources. Since his arrival on campus, fundraising has increased 84 percent, with $62 million raised, culminating with this year’s record total of $15.2 million.
The Online and Continuing Education division provides a steady stream of revenue to the campus. Enrollments are up 20 percent over the past five years, with $28 million received last year.
New spin-off companies have been created by the Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Properties Office and licensing revenues increased three times between FY10 and FY11, alone.
Meehan was honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) at the annual District I program in early 2012 when he received the Chief Executive Leadership Award, established to honor institutional leaders for outstanding contributions to their campus communities, for efforts promoting public understanding of education and for support of advancement at their campuses.
Meehan was named by Irish Voice Magazine in 2009 and 2012 as one of the top 100 Irish Americans in positions of leadership in higher education in the United States.
Meehan represented the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2007. He served on the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees. Widely respected as a reformer, he established a national reputation for his legislative leadership in transforming campaign finance laws and protecting people against the health risks in tobacco use.
In addition to his UMass Lowell undergraduate degree, Meehan received a master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk University in 1981 and a juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1986. He holds honorary degrees from Suffolk and Green Mountain College in Vermont. Meehan was an adjunct faculty member in political science at UMass Lowell in the late 1980’s. He served as Massachusetts deputy secretary of state for securities and corporations from 1986 to 1990. In the early 1990s, Meehan was the first assistant district attorney of Middlesex County.
He is on the board of directors at Lowell Cooperative Bank and Lowell General Hospital. Previously, he served on the board of directors of Qteros (formerly SunEthanol) and D’Youville Foundation and was a member of the board of trustees of Suffolk University.
Meehan is married to Ellen T. Murphy, a health-care consultant and former vice president at Lawrence General Hospital. They are the parents of Robert Francis and Daniel Martin Meehan.
Marty Meehan is the second chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the 15th leader of the institution, founded in the 1890s as the Lowell Normal and Lowell Textile schools.
Since assuming the chancellorship on July 1, 2007, Meehan has propelled UMass Lowell forward by every important measure of higher education: academics, research, fundraising, globalization, recruitment, retention, diversity, campus life and engagement with the community. He also has overseen a spectacular renewal of the physical campus by acquiring and constructing new facilities and revamping existing ones.
“Higher education is the foundation of this country,” says Meehan, who graduated cum laude from UMass Lowell in 1978 with a degree in education and political science.
“What we do now, today, at this University, will decide whether we can retain educated, talented and motivated entrepreneurs, engineers, managers, teachers, artists, health professionals and civic leaders,” he says. “I feel passionately about UMass Lowell. It gave me the basis to do whatever I’ve been able to do with my life.”
Five years ago, Meehan brought to campus a razor-sharp and far-reaching vision of what UMass Lowell could become. Through inclusive decision-making, collaboration and consensus-building, he successfully challenged the campus community to join him in bringing that vision to reality.
Meehan and his leadership team established bold initiatives that have transformed the campus across all three mission points: teaching, research and community engagement. The University’s strategic plan UMass Lowell 2020 is the blueprint that has guided the campus toward national and international recognition as a world-class institution.
Enrollment has increased by a dramatic 37 percent over the past five years, and diversity of new undergraduate students has grown 76 percent over the same period. The average SAT of incoming freshmen is up 44 points over five years. Today, UMass Lowell has over 15,000 bright, energetic and motivated undergraduate and graduate students.
Freshman retention is increasing and UMass Lowell leads New England public research institutions in increasing the percentage of students who successfully complete their degrees.
All incoming freshmen are placed in learning communities and cooperative and internship programs have been expanded in the areas of engineering, science and management. One-hundred percent of the University’s classrooms have been upgraded with state-of-the-art technology and are now “smart classrooms.”
Additionally, new academic and recreational programs, a focus on interdisciplinary curricula and a surge in global academic and research partnerships have helped invigorate the campus and provide students with the tools they need to succeed in the classroom and in the workplace.
UMass Lowell has academic partnerships with more than 60 universities in 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North America and Australia. On campus, the international student community has been growing, with students from more than 50 countries represented.
Efforts to encourage more students to live on campus have resulted in three-quarters of all freshmen living in residence halls—a significant increase—which boosts their chances for academic success and helps build a vibrant campus life. Meehan’s goal of having 50 percent of all students living on campus will be exceeded within the next year when two new residence halls are opened.
Research expenditures in FY11 reached $60 million, a 66 percent increase in four years and a record for the University.
The campus has undergone a stunning physical transformation since Meehan became chancellor. In 2009, the University purchased an underused downtown hotel and converted it into the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, providing housing for 500 students as well as conference space and lodging for the community.
In 2010, the University acquired the 6,500-seat Tsongas Arena (now the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) and also assumed management of the UMass Lowell Bellegarde Boathouse, home to University, local and community rowing programs.
Two new academic buildings—the first in 35 years—are under construction. The Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center on North Campus will open in the fall of 2012 as the hub of industry partnerships and new manufacturing technologies. The Health and Social Science Building on South Campus will house classrooms and laboratories and will open early in 2013.
University Suites, a 472-bed residence hall, is under construction and will open in the fall of 2013, along with another new residence hall adjacent to South Campus.
One new parking garage is being built and another will start construction next year.
External validation proves that the campus is on the right track. UMass Lowell was rated a top-tier national university by U.S. News and World Report for the first time two years ago. In 2011, the campus advanced in the ranking of national universities from number 188 to 177 and is rated among the top 100 public universities nationwide.
Payscale.com says UMass Lowell graduates earn the highest mid-career median salary among public institutions in New England for two of the last three years.
UMass Lowell has been named for three years in a row, the last two “with distinction,” to President’s Obama’s Honor Roll for community service and community engagement, due to the many service learning and partnership initiatives.
Meehan has sought innovative and entrepreneurial means to obtain resources. Since his arrival on campus, fundraising has increased 84 percent, with $62 million raised, culminating with this year’s record total of $15.2 million.
The Online and Continuing Education division provides a steady stream of revenue to the campus. Enrollments are up 20 percent over the past five years, with $28 million received last year.
New spin-off companies have been created by the Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Properties Office and licensing revenues increased three times between FY10 and FY11, alone.
Meehan was honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) at the annual District I program in early 2012 when he received the Chief Executive Leadership Award, established to honor institutional leaders for outstanding contributions to their campus communities, for efforts promoting public understanding of education and for support of advancement at their campuses.
Meehan was named by Irish Voice Magazine in 2009 and 2012 as one of the top 100 Irish Americans in positions of leadership in higher education in the United States.
Meehan represented the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2007. He served on the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees. Widely respected as a reformer, he established a national reputation for his legislative leadership in transforming campaign finance laws and protecting people against the health risks in tobacco use.
In addition to his UMass Lowell undergraduate degree, Meehan received a master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk University in 1981 and a juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1986. He holds honorary degrees from Suffolk and Green Mountain College in
Vermont. Meehan was an adjunct faculty member in political science at UMass Lowell in the late 1980’s. He served as Massachusetts deputy secretary of state for securities and corporations from 1986 to 1990. In the early 1990s, Meehan was the first assistant district attorney of Middlesex
County.
He is on the board of directors at Lowell Cooperative Bank and Lowell General Hospital. Previously, he served on the board of directors of Qteros (formerly SunEthanol) and D’Youville Foundation and was a member of the board of trustees of Suffolk University.
Meehan is married to Ellen T. Murphy, a health-care consultant and former vice president at Lawrence General Hospital. They are the parents of Robert Francis and Daniel Martin Meehan.