President of Notre Dame of Maryland University announces retirement

Dr. Marylou Yam, president of Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) in Baltimore, has announced her retirement effective June 30, 2026. She served as NDMU’s 14th president since 2014, guiding the university through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and opening all its undergraduate programs to men in 2023 after more than 125 years of offering a traditional women’s college education.

Since fall 2022, total enrollment has increased by 38 percent, and the university has welcomed record numbers of new undergraduate students, according to a Oct. 22 news release. NDMU, sponsored by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, also raised $52.6 million through the largest fundraising campaign to support students and increased its endowment by 40 percent to historic levels.

“Serving as the 14th president of this extraordinary mission-driven institution has been one of the greatest honors and blessings of my life,” Yam said in the news release. “Notre Dame of Maryland University has always been – and will always be – a place where individuals are inspired to learn deeply, serve generously and lead boldly. Over the past decade, we have faced some difficult challenges, including a global pandemic, but together with a spirit of innovation and resilience, we stayed steadfast in our mission and values; and in doing so we were able to advance our strategic goals and priorities forward successfully.”

Yam led academic program growth at NDMU, including NDMU Online, the doctorate in higher education,  Maryland’s first bachelor’s and master’s programs in art therapy, the state’s first doctorate in occupational therapy at a private institution and the first master of physician assistant studies program at a private institution.

She also led the launch of NDMU’s new School of Integrative Health, developed after a recent merger of the former Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) into NDMU. That move makes NDMU the nation’s first comprehensive university with a school solely dedicated to integrative health – adding a full array of more than 20 primarily online graduate-level integrative health and wellness degrees and certificates to NDMU’s existing offerings of conventional healthcare programs, the university said.

In addition, NDMU renovated and enhanced key campus facilities, including the completion of the Doyle Dining Hall, Caroline Hall, the Knott Science and Innovation Center and the Notre Dame Athletic Field. Yam forged a partnership with Brightview Senior Living to build a senior housing community at NDMU – a first for a Maryland college campus – which will bring learning and other opportunities for seniors, along with internships for NDMU students.

“President Yam has worked 24/7 to put NDMU on a path of success – whether it be in increasing the endowment, creating new programs and schools, creating a new energy and growth in the school through taking the university all-gender, raising our visibility in the city and state and increasing our rankings in so many categories,” said Cathryn Curia ’69, chair of the NDMU Board of Trustees. “Her goal has always been the financial stability and the growth of Notre Dame, while caring for the campus community and respecting the school’s heritage with the SSNDs (School Sisters of Notre Dame).”

School Sister of Notre Dame Charmaine Krohe, ’75, chair of NDMU’s Corporate Board, said Yam’s “deep faith, visionary leadership and steadfast dedication” have been hallmarks of her presidency

“Her manifold accomplishments uphold the charism of the SSNDs,” Sister Charmaine said. “Through her work, both as president and as an SSND Associate, she has embodied and advanced the SSND mission that, through education, we may change students into leaders and ultimately transform the world. We are profoundly grateful for her leadership, her courage, and the lasting legacy she leaves to the Notre Dame community.”

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