April 14, 2000, marked a new era at St. Mary’s when the Board of Trustees unanimously selected Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D., as the first lay president in the school’s 148-year history.

At a press conference announcing Cotrell’s affirmation, St. Mary’s Chancellor, the Rev. Timothy Dwyer, S.M., said, “This is a truly historic moment. Since its foundation by the Society of Mary, a professed religious member has served as president. I have every confidence that Dr. Cotrell will continue to advance the University’s proud tradition of Catholic and Marianist education.”

Ten months later, the St. Mary’s and San Antonio communities gathered to inaugurate one of its own. On Feb. 10, 2001, more than 1,500 guests took part in a ceremony marked by academic processions, music, greetings and testimonials, and a solemn yet joyous Eucharistic celebration. On that day, the torch was passed to the first lay president, thus beginning a new era of leadership.

Cotrell, a San Antonio native, is a tenured professor of political science and has been affiliated with St. Mary’s since his freshman year in 1958. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University and began his teaching career in 1966. Since then, he has taken on steadily increased responsibilities, among them department chairman, graduate programs director, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, first dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and first lay vice president of Academic Affairs.

It is his commitment to the values and tenets of Marianist education, however, that have led him to the presidency of St. Mary’s University. Cotrell was appointed “. . . above all for his deep understanding of and tested commitment to the University’s Catholic and Marianist heritage,” said Dwyer. Cotrell’s vision reinforces that commitment. In his strategic plan, “Vision 2006: A 21st Century Education at St. Mary’s University,” he defines the ways he will address challenges facing education, including the enhancement of St. Mary’s heritage of academic excellence, and developing an infrastructure capable of supporting and responding to our rapidly changing culture.

But, first and foremost among the initiatives to carry out his vision, is “to foster a culture at St. Mary’s imbued by a dynamic Catholic identity in the Marianist tradition.”

Charles L. Cotrell is singularly well equipped to lead St. Mary’s into a new era of leadership as the University’s first lay president. It is his mission and one for which he has spent a lifetime preparing.