Nichols president retiring at end of school year

Photo | Courtesy | Nichols College Nichols College President Susan West Engelkemeyer

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By Grant Welker

Nichols College President Susan West Engelkemeyer will retire at the end of this school year following a decade leading the Dudley school, Nichols announced Wednesday.

Engelkemeyer's retirement will come at the close of what's likely to be an unusual and challenging year for Nichols and other colleges, who are having to balance health and safety needs against goals to best educate students through the coronavirus pandemic. Nichols is holding classes on campus this fall, with regular coronavirus testing and a plan to shift courses and finals online after Thanksgiving.

Nichols allowed students who live close to campus to drop off their belongings in their dorm rooms weeks before the semester began to avoid crowding and limited classroom capacity to no more than half, switching students in and out between in-classroom participation and online.

Engelkemeyer said she's retiring to spend more time with her family. She called her decade at Nichols the highlight of her professional career and expressed confidence in the future of the college at a time when small private colleges are generally expected to see financial and enrollment challenges in coming years.

“While the global pandemic has slowed our pace as we work to actualize our vision to become ‘A college of choice for business and leadership education,’ I am confident that we will quickly regain our footing and emerge stronger than ever,” she said in a statement.

Under Engelkemeyer's tenure, Nichols said, it increased enrollment by 20%, retention by 30% and its graduation rate by 50%. It also completed a $45-million fundraising campaign and nearly quadrupled its endowment.

Engelkemeyer previously served as the dean of the Charlton College of Business at UMass Dartmouth and, before that, the business dean at Ithaca College in New York. She was an associate professor and held administrative positions at Babson College in Boston. Engelkemeyer holds a Ph.D. in industrial management from Clemson University in South Carolina, an MBA from East Carolina University in North Carolina, and a bachelor's from Stephens College in Missouri.

Nichols' board of trustees has formed a presidential search committee to find Engelkemeyer's successor with the help of the Boston leadership recruitment firm Isaacson Miller.