PRESS RELEASE -- May 17, 2008
More than 540 set to graduate from MVNU in May
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- Dr. Mary-Linda Armacost, a leader in higher education nationally and around the world for 40 years, will speak to 545 graduating students at this year’s Mount Vernon Nazarene University commencement.
The ceremonies will be held on Saturday, May 17, in the R.R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium, with traditional undergraduates and graduate business students at 10 a.m., and adult undergraduates and graduate education and ministry students at 2:30 p.m.
About the Speaker
Dr. Armacost received her Ph.D. in speech communication from The Pennsylvania State University in 1970 and became a research associate in the College of Human Development at Penn State. In 1972, she went to Emerson College in Boston where she began her administrative career. She developed the first continuing studies program at Emerson College, and was vice president for administration and special assistant to the president. In 1979, she became assistant to the president at Boston University.
In 1981, Dr. Armacost assumed the presidency of Wilson College, a liberal arts college for women in Chambersburg, Penn. During the Wilson presidency, she was president of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities and the first chairman of the Committee on Higher Education for the Presbyterian Church (USA). From 1991-93, she was the president of Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia and again from 1998-99. In 1993 she married Dr. Peter Armacost and spent the next nine years as a consultant, facilitating the Pew Higher Education Roundtables and working with liberal arts colleges and comprehensive universities on the American Council of Education’s Kellogg grant on Transformational Change. She was a primary researcher and author on the Teagle Foundation study of Teagle-funded college and seminary collaborations. Armacost served on the boards of Monmouth University (N.J.) and Randolph-Macon Women’s College.
In 2003, Dr. Armacost and her husband moved to Lahore, Pakistan, where Peter is the rector of Forman Christian College (a Chartered University). Armacost serves as a resource person to the Higher Education Commission, the vice chair of the Presbyterian Education Board, an interviewer for the Fulbright Commission, consultant on governance issues to LUMS and consultant to the Board of Trustees of Forman Christian College. She is a professor of higher education on the affiliated faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in the Graduate School of Education, where she teaches and guides dissertations in their executive doctoral program in higher education administration.
About the Class of 2008
Degree breakdowns for MVNU’s 2008 commencement include: 5 Associate of Applied Science, 146 Bachelor of Arts, 53 Bachelor of Science, 184 Bachelor of Business Administration, 4 Master of Ministry, 90 Master of Arts in Education, 26 Master of Science in Management and 37 Master of Business Administration. The traditional undergraduate class represents 47 different majors, 14 states and 1 other country (Albania).
A baccalaureate service will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 16, in the R.R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium. For more information about MVNU’s commencement ceremonies or a full schedule of events for the weekend, or call (740) 397-9000, ext. 4341.
Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, four-year, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students and working adults. U.S. News & World Report ranks MVNU in the top 50 Best in the Midwest (Bachelor’s-Comprehensive) institutions for the fourth year in a row. With a 400-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and eight additional satellite Adult and Graduate Studies campuses throughout the state, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education to more than 2,670 students from 27 states and six countries/U.S. territories.
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