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President Bill Ruud, who has led ��ݮ��Ƶ for nearly seven years and helped reposition it as a student-ready institution, announced on Monday, February 20^th, that he is leaving the College to pursue other opportunities. His final day will be on or before June 30, 2023.

Having led the College through the pandemic, Ruud is credited with leading fundraising efforts that have the College nearing the completion of the $100 million goal for the “This is the Time” comprehensive campaign by the end of 2023. Under his leadership, the College also invested in significant improvements to facilities to enhance the student experience.

“The ��ݮ��Ƶ Board of Trustees want to thank President Ruud for providing valuable leadership at a time when we needed him. Under his leadership, we faced one of the most difficult times in the history of our beloved College — a pandemic and government-ordered shutdown. Dr. Ruud kept the campus informed, kept the campus safe, and worked with the entire campus to resume classes as quickly as possible for the benefit of our students,” said Matt Weekley ’81, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “We wish Bill and his wife, Judy, nothing but the best in whatever their future holds.”

Ruud arrived at ��ݮ��Ƶ in July 2016, and during his first three years, the College experience enrollment growth and invested millions in upgrading campus facilities. The College was positioned well for a fourth consecutive year of enrollment growth — bucking many of the national trends — before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down colleges and universities around the U.S. in early 2020. Like many other similar colleges, Marietta is rebounding from the impact of the pandemic; however, the decline of undergraduate enrollment coupled with the loss of international students during the pandemic continues to present a challenge for ��ݮ��Ƶ.

“Judy and I profoundly love ��ݮ��Ƶ and the Pioneer Family. Serving as the 19^th president over the past seven years, we dedicated ourselves to this magnificent institution and the students, faculty, staff, and community we serve,” Ruud said. “That said, after careful consideration and many long nights, Judy and I have agreed it is time for us to transition to the next phase of our lives — and watch and support the College and its faculty, staff, and students rise to new challenges under the leadership of the next president.”

In a letter to campus, Ruud shared, “We, all of us together, the faculty and staff working as partners, have done so much over the past seven years to impact the experience of our students at Marietta that makes me swell with pride.”

Prior to joining Marietta, Ruud served as the 10th President of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, from 2013 to 2016. Marietta is Ruud’s third presidency, as he was the 15th president at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania from 2007-13.

Weekley said the Board will announce an interim president before Ruud’s departure and will commence a national search for the next president.