Dr. KerryAnn O'Meara
O'Meara, currently vice president for academic affairs, provost, and dean at Teachers College, Columbia University, will succeed Dr. Dennis C. Jacobs, who is retiring at the end of the academic year.
"Dr. O'Meara is a nationally recognized scholar of faculty careers, evaluation, and organizational change, whose research has informed policy and practice at institutions across the country," Fordham President Tania Tetlow said in a statement.
O'Meara, who earned her bachelor's degree at Loyola University Maryland, holds a master's in higher education administration from Ohio State University and a doctorate in education policy from the University of Maryland. She was elected a fellow of the American Educational Research Association in 2025 and is a past president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Before joining Teachers College three years ago, O'Meara spent 16 years at the University of Maryland, where she served as a professor and led strategic initiatives to enhance research efforts, faculty recruitment, and interdisciplinary scholarship.
At Fordham, O'Meara said she looks forward to developing new programs in health and the sciences. "Such programs can create new and exciting ways for Fordham students to matter in the world and for Fordham to partner with and serve New York City," she said.
O'Meara has a family connection to Fordham: Her father, retired Army Brig. Gen. Richard O'Meara, graduated from Fordham Law School in 1975.
